Ethereal
by Prosopopeia
Summary: AU, future Takedai and others Four years ago he left the Digital World in chaos. Now Takeru is determined to correct his mistake and discover what it truly means to be swimming in the pool of hope and despair. On Extended Hiatus.
1. Prologue

Hi again. Well, this is another sad attempt at Takedai/Daikeru fandom. Hehe…well, yes we go on now! Oh, yeah, I also have to throw in my other favorite coupling, which is Jyouto/Yamajyou of course! Tee hee!

_Disclaimer: Me don't own Digimon, k?_

* * *

**Prologue**

My brother was coming home today.

I suppose I am excited. After all I haven't seen him in a good four years. I never even went to visit him. I wonder how much he's changed… I admit, I haven't been the most ideal older brother. He must be angry with me… Well, how can I assume that? I don't even know him anymore.

The doctors said that he improved a lot during this year. Of course he's still a little out of it, but they said hopefully, if he went back to us, he would revert back to his old self. The last time I saw Takeru, I thought that he was lost forever. Mom and dad were ecstatic of course. And they even got back together after the whole incident. Who would've thought, huh? It seemed like Takeru going away brought them closer together. But I can't keep my hopes too high up. Who knows when they might separate again?

"Yamato?"

I blinked and turned my head to the side. I saw dad smiling gently at me. I could feel the nervousness radiating from him. Mom sat beside him and gave me the same look. I sighed. It was so obvious they were worried. But they covered it up by pretending to be nervous for _me_, the older brother.

"Are you all right?" mom asked softly. The hospital was coming into view now. I sighed again.

And soon we pulled up into the parking lot. Then we all headed out the car. My parents lingered on the edge, closing the doors slowly, as if they were completely afraid of what was coming. I looked at them and slammed my door shut loudly, bringing them out of their reveries.

"Are we going?"

I didn't mean to say it so snappily, but it was enough to bring them back and they nodded quickly and we all started heading to the front door. I was in the lead and they followed behind. Pushing my hands into my pockets, I let out an involuntarily shudder. This was it. The day my brother was coming home. I prayed to God that everything would be all right.

Just as we opened the door, the sight of pure white walls and floors greeted me. Nurses and doctors were attired in white and I squinted my eyes in annoyance. I hated all this white. And the air was thick with sterility and sickness. Hospitals…I hated them, yet at this moment I forgot that enmity since the hospital was the one bringing my brother back to us.

A doctor came up to us immediately. I assumed it was Dr. Yoshida, the doctor who had first gone to Takeru. He was an elderly man in his mid-fifties with a gentle smile. He was one of the few doctors I didn't mind. He greeted us with a friendly smile and nod. I felt my mother clutching my arm tightly and my father's arm around my shoulder.

"Well, it's good to see you all…again," he said with a twinkle in his eye. I smiled slightly and knew my parents would have too if they hadn't been so nervous. Dr. Yoshida sighed and made a gesture to follow him. We did so until we reached a small room. It was an examination room with a scale and needles and such. I looked around curiously as he spoke.

"We took some last minute measurements of your son and of course to make sure he wasn't sick or anything like that," he remarked, waving to the instruments. My parents both nodded and I hid my aggravation. When were we going to see Takeru?

"Everything's normal, so I guess you're in suspense aren't you?" he said with a glint in his eyes. I had to smile and I heard my parents chuckle slightly. Dr. Yoshida clapped his hands and then left the room for a second.

My parents finally detached themselves from me and I sighed in relief. They sat down in sick anticipation. Finally, the doctor reemerged from another room and they stood up suddenly. I glanced up and saw two nurses following the doctor and then…

Takeru.

I stared and stared at him. My brother had finally come back to us. He looked almost the same, except he was much taller now and his blond hair was longer and spikier than ever. His eyes looked dead, but as I caught his attention, they brightened considerably. I couldn't stop looking at him. In many ways he seemed the same, but I knew he was much more different from four years ago.

"Takeru!"

I heard my mother stifle a cry as she went up to him and held a hand over his cheek, almost afraid to touch him. I felt my father wrap a tight arm around my shoulders as Takeru slowly reached up and held mom's hand. Just then she started crying and hugged him immediately. I saw Takeru slowly hug her back as well.

"Mom," I barely heard him murmur.

I looked up at my father and saw tears in his eyes and a huge smile sprawled on his face. We both looked at each other for a second before looking back at my sobbing mother. She had finally pulled away from Takeru and was now ruffling his hair with her hands and asking him if he was okay. He just nodded to every question.

I glanced at Dr. Yoshida, who smiling at them. The nurses were all wiping their eyes gently.

"Well, you have waited for a long time to do this… I wish you all the best luck," I heard Dr. Yoshida remark as he and the nurses walked out of the room. I saw dad wave slightly before walking over slowly to mom and Takeru. She was still crying and as soon as dad touched her, she turned to face him and hugged him tightly. Her head was buried in dad's shoulder as she continued to sob. Dad gently patted her back as I walked up to Takeru. He was my height now, if not slightly taller.

"How you doing, kiddo?"

The excitement and nervousness I didn't experience before now came to me. This was my brother that I haven't seen in four years. How could I not have been nervous? Now I didn't know what to say as he looked at me with unreadable eyes.

"Better, now that you're here," he replied softly, a small smile on his lips. I couldn't resist grinning back at him. I would have hugged him, but I was not as physical as mom was. So I just smiled at him, hoping he would be able to read my eyes and know how much I loved and missed him.

As we started heading out the hospital, I felt his gaze on me. I looked at him and the link we shared was opened.

He knew…he knew…

* * *

TBC


	2. The Finding

**Chapter I**

"What do you think?"

Takeru eyed the apartment in a sort of mixture of curiosity and awe. It had only been a day since he came back from the hospital. But the night before had been filled with too much excitement for him to actually look around the new apartment that their parents had moved into after they got back together. His room was almost exactly like his old one, everything in its proper place with some new additions. It was much larger and had a great view of the city. Yamato's room was right across the hall and their parents at the end of the hallway.

The blond turned around to face his brother.

"It's nice," he remarked quietly.

Quite frankly he still didn't believe where he was. His parents back together was surprise enough and everyone seemed so tense. It was like they were holding their breaths. But Takeru had enough of hospitals and he wasn't going back. Of course that meant he had to hold his tongue.

Yamato sighed and ran his hand nervously through his hair. He never remembered being this nervous before except maybe at his first show. This was Takeru, though. And yet he felt as if he were welcoming a stranger to their home.

"Well, um, I gotta get going. Sorry, I would like to spend some more time with you, but I promised my friends a while ago that—"

"It's all right," Takeru suddenly interjected. Yamato had always been a busy person. That much at least didn't change. And he really needed some time to himself to think. "Go, I'll be fine."

Yamato eyed Takeru suspiciously. "Are you sure…?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. Already it seemed that he wanted to be alone. He wasn't sure if that was good or not…especially since no one else was there with him.

The blond shot an exasperated look at his brother.

"Positive."

Yamato shrugged off his discomfort and grabbed his keys off the counter, walking towards the door. He opened it slowly and started heading out when he suddenly looked at Takeru again.

"I'll make it up to you later. Promise," he said. Takeru looked at him in surprise. His face suddenly broke into a smile.

"Sure," he murmured. Yamato grinned and closed the door, leaving both Takeru and the apartment alone.

* * *

His eyes had been glued to the computer for nearly two hours. Frowning, he typed in more commands. He had never been much of a computer genius. Usually that was left to Koushirou…or Ken…or Miyako. Those names caused Takeru to glance away from the computer to the empty wall in front of him. How long had it been since he said the names of the others?

Time passed too quickly in his eyes. It was as if they never even knew each other. Well, in their eyes they never knew each other. But Takeru knew better. He was the only one who knew the truth. But the truth was too much for Yamato and his parents to grasp. And he barely even started to look for the others before his parents sent him away to some psychiatrist. Maybe he was going crazy during that period of his life, but they wouldn't believe him, not even Yamato, who was with him.

The worst came when the doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia. Takeru narrowed his eyes. He was never hallucinating at all. But the fact was that he was so angry with everyone for not believing him that he lashed out at everyone who tried to get near him. He even attacked Yamato when he tried to reason with him. Then he tried to escape from the hospital. It was then that the doctors suggested sending him to a psychiatric ward for better treatment. The only problem was that the ward was in the middle of a forest, far away from society.

His parents were reluctant at first but then he tried to escape again that night. Takeru grimaced. He should have never attempted escape for that stunt had convinced his parents to agree. A week later much too kind nurses and doctors greeted him along with other mentally ill patients. That year had been a horror to him and half the time he was depressed and sick. The patients there were enough to drive one mad and for a while he started believing he was like them: mentally ill.

He had gone through psychotherapy that nearly made him puke. He only went through them because if he rebelled, the doctors immediately thought something was going wrong or that he was pivoting more towards the stages of incurability. They also gave him drugs to help with his illness. All he ever did was hide them carefully under his tongue and spit them out afterward. The guards fell for it all the time.

It was a fact that he was the sanest out of everyone in the hospital. For the first few months he had a roommate, a man who had obsessive-compulsive disorder. His case was extreme however and in the end Takeru felt that he was going to explode if he stayed with him any longer. But the doctors said he would eventually get used to him. So then he forced himself to act like a schizophrenic more than ever and began to pretend to hallucinate and his roommate grew to be very scared of him and that was how he obtained his own room.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. The thought almost made him laugh if not for the seriousness of the situation. He had to find a way to bring the others back together without his parents or Yamato knowing, though he was part of the group. He would deal with him last. He frowned. But where was everyone else? It seemed Pathogen had done a very good job at separating everyone. They didn't even live in the same places anymore. If only Ken were with him. He would have been able to track down everyone in ten seconds flat.

The blond opened his eyes and thought for a moment. How strange it was that he was the only one who remembered. His eyes flickered for a moment. He probably wouldn't even be in this world if it hadn't been for Daisuke's interruption. And now he was trapped in the Digital World alone and Takeru wasn't even sure if he was still alive. He sat up and stared at the computer again. No, he was positive he was alive. And once he found a way back to he Digital World, he would find Daisuke and bring him back then deal with Pathogen.

He blinked at the search results. How would he be able to track down everyone when he had no idea where to look? Pathogen could have sent them to Australia or England for all he knew. The thought unnerved him as he continued typing away. Different windows were open, one with a search engine for each of his missing nine friends: Taichi, Hikari, Jyou, Iori, Miyako, Ken, Koushirou, Sora, and Mimi. Any one of them would have been fine to track down. But if Pathogen made him and Yamato brothers still, then everyone else should still be in Japan. The demon was never much of an imaginer. Suddenly his eyes crossed over a name and picture. His eyes moved slowly towards the picture and instantly he was stung with familiarity.

Ichijouji Osamu.

* * *

TBC


	3. Gripping Unreality

**Chapter II**

"Osamu…Osamu where the hell are you?"

Takeru kept muttering under his breath as he walked quickly along the sidewalk, not even caring that he bumped into several people along the way. A few of them turned around and started shouting curses. The blond only continued weaving in and out through the pedestrians as if in his own world. In truth it was like he was in his own world. He had just discovered Osamu's name and picture online a few days ago. Normally he would have tried to find him sooner, but his parents and Yamato kept him. He never imagined he would actually grow sick of them in just a few days.

"Hey watch it, punk!"

After one particularly hard crash into a man's shoulder, Takeru found himself pinned up against the wall of a building staring up at into a pair of angry eyes. A sense of exasperation shot through him before being replaced with renewed vigor as he pushed the grip away, throwing a dangerous glare at the older man.

"Hey, you should watch where you're going too, mister," he remarked quietly, moving away quickly. The man couldn't even utter a response before Takeru broke into a trot heading straight towards the address listed on the webpage. He prayed that Ken was still Osamu's brother in this world.

A large apartment building came into view and the blond glanced up at it in fascination. It looked almost exactly like the old one where Ken lived in. Tall, faded grey with clean windows…it was simple compared to his building. He sighed deeply and tried to recollect his breath. Then, without falter, he headed into the building, glancing at the list of names near the door. He saw Ichijouji and pressed the bell. Then he watched the door in silence.

The sound of the buzzer cut in the silence and Takeru bounded forward instantly, pushing the door with so much strength, it bumped hard against the wall behind it. The blond took no notice and headed to the stairs. His destination was the sixth floor. Why did they have to live so high up?

_"Takeru, why do I feel like the annoying older brother who has nothing to do but pester his younger brother in going out with him?"_

_"Yamato…I just have some things I have to do, that's all."_

_"You just came back, Takeru."_

_"I have some unfinished things to deal with?"_

The conversation with Yamato ran through his head clearly. Once again, he had cancelled out on his older brother. Yamato was probably beginning to suspect something, but didn't question him thank goodness. He smiled to himself. Yamato never showed so much attention towards him since he was a child. But then again he had a lot to make up for those long four years.

Finally he reached the last step and swung the door open to enter a long hallway of apartments. He walked around before finding the Ichijouji's. Hesitating, he pressed the button on the side of the door nervously. This was the moment. If Ken didn't live there, he didn't know what else to do. Perhaps look for the others.

The door swung open suddenly and Takeru found himself blinking in surprise at a woman shorter than himself with kind brown eyes. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of her.

_Ken's mother…_

The woman blinked and looked up at Takeru in wonder.

"Yes? Are you one of Osamu's friends?" she asked in a sweet tone. Takeru almost laughed. It was nice to see someone still the same after the whole incident. He cleared his throat.

"Um, no, but I was wondering if…if Ken is here?" he asked in a tone so pathetic, he nearly slapped his forehead. Ken's mother looked at him in puzzlement and he felt a fear run through him.

_He's not here, he's not here… Oh God…_

She turned around suddenly. "Ken, dear! Someone's here for you!" she called, before turning around to look at Takeru with a smile. "I rarely see any visitors of Ken. What is your name, dear?" she asked.

Takeru blinked and thrust his hand out reflexively. "Ishida Takeru, pleased to meet you," he said in a well-practiced tone.

How many times did he do this with the doctors in psychotherapy? Though, she took it well and invited him in before leaving him alone in the hallway. He glanced at the neat row of shoes lined up on a mat on the floor before moving his gaze to the clock and then the walls. It was lined up exactly like Ken's old apartment. The only difference was that it was in a different location.

The sound of scuffling feet broke his attention away from the pictures on the wall. He saw Ken turn the corner before freezing, a look of pure confusion sprawled all over on his face. Takeru smiled weakly. The boy still looked exactly the same with his neat violet hair and amethyst-colored eyes. He stared at Takeru cautiously.

"Who are you?" he inquired in a tone Takeru knew too well. It was how Ken greeted strangers all the time. He was feeling so happy that he broke into a smile, which only puzzled Ken even further. Takeru moved closer towards him, a look of pure seriousness on his face.

"I don't know how to explain this," he began, looking at the floor. Ken would probably think he was insane. Maybe this was all just a big mistake.

_Just do it, just do it!_

He raised his head to look at Ken in the eye. The boy just stared strangely back at him.

"Ken…I know this may sound insane but you and I were extremely close friends even if you don't remember it. And we and our other friends you don't remember were part of a parallel world, or Digital World, and believe it or not we were sort of like the guardians of that world. Then four years ago against a fight with Pathogen, our…um, enemy, we were separated and brought back here to the real world where he erased all of your memories."

Takeru cringed slightly at the look of horrified shock displayed on Ken's face. He knew the idea sounded completely illogical to one like Ken. He was a boy of straight facts and was never into the whole fantasy and possibility of something unreal. Even when they were in the Digital World, he was the one who took the longest to adjust to the idea of being a guardian of another world almost completely alike from theirs; only there were no humans save them. The other creatures were dragons, demons, sprites, et cetera. He stared at the boy's pale face and tried to put out all of his feelings into his eyes. It was something he hadn't done in a long time. Back then in the hospital, it was best to be cold and unemotional.

"I'm telling you the truth, Ken. Look in your right palm. Even though now it doesn't bear the crest of Kindness, it will if you hold it up to the light of the moon at night. Haven't you ever done it before?" Takeru asked, praying this wasn't all in vain. Ken just stared at him stoically for a few moments before lowering his gaze to match the floor. He raised his right hand to his face slowly, staring at it intently before snapping a sharp look at Takeru.

"You…no one knows about that," he stuttered, looking at Takeru astonishingly.

The blond only sighed in relief. At least his theory proved correct. He himself had discovered his crest once while in his stay at the ward. It was about two years ago when he was wandering around in the empty hallways at night. The guard had forgotten to lock his door so he decided to venture out. The doctors never let them out except in the early morning and afternoon. He didn't even have windows in his room so it was heaven breathing in the fresh air.

While on his walk, he discovered a garden outside blowing in the sweet and gentle breeze. It was during that day he felt the most inadequate and the most depressed than ever. Unbeknownst to him, the crescent moon began to appear behind shifting clouds and the light shone down on his hand softly. The crest of Hope was brought to life and it was then that he received his second wind. From that day on he forced his feelings down and acted like the perfect little boy, which finally enabled him to escape the horrific sanctuary to where he was now.

Takeru narrowed his eyes slightly at the memory and looked at Ken, a bittersweet smile on his face. "I know because I have one, too. Mine is the crest of Hope," he explained, pulling up his sleeve to show the mark. It was light and barely detectable, but because of Takeru remembrance of the past, it shone still. Ken looked at his own palm in wonder.

"But…yours I can see. Why is it I can't see mine now?" he asked, looking at Takeru in confusion. Part of him was screaming at him for asking the question. He should be studying, not talking to some crazed stranger. But something about the blond made him feel more secure and comforted than he had in years.

Takeru looked at him seriously. "Because you don't remember," he answered quickly, lowering his arm. He glanced around sharply before looking at Ken again. "Mind if we go to your room? It's a lot bigger and safer than out here in the hall," he said. Ken blinked in surprise.

"I guess so. It's this—" he began before Takeru brushed past him, heading in the exact direction of Ken's room. The dark-haired boy looked back at him in shock. Perhaps the boy did know something he didn't.

Shaking his head, he followed quickly and closed the door to his room quietly. Takeru was already sitting in front of the computer, toying with it idly. Ken frowned slightly before Takeru suddenly looked at him.

"Look, I can't explain everything, but know this. There were twelve of us altogether in the Digital World. All of us were sent back except one, which would be Motomiya Daisuke," he explained, his eyes narrowing. Ken nodded in surprise.

The blond continued as unmoving as before.

"Nobody remembers each other now. Pathogen did that on purpose and everyone lives in a different area. What I need from you is your knowledge of the city and computer to help me locate them so we can go back to find and retrieve Daisuke. Then maybe we can hole down Pathogen's sorry ass once and for all," remarked Takeru, an angry look coming across his face. Daisuke had been in the Digital World for four years. He was probably not even the same person. In fact, there was a strong possibility that he was under Pathogen's control. He shuddered at the thought.

Ken stared at Takeru in shock.

_This guy's insane. What the hell is the Digital World and who is Motomiya Daisuke? I can't trust him! But there's just something about him that… No, no, I can't let him deceive me!_

"You expect me to believe that?" started Ken coldly. Takeru froze as he watched the boy before him continue. "Look, just tell me exactly who you are and what you want otherwise you're going," he muttered vigorously.

Takeru sighed deeply. This would prove to be more challenging than he thought.

"Ken, you know who I am. Just search deep inside of yourself. I know Pathogen couldn't have possibly wiped out _everything_. Our bond was too strong for that to happen. I am Ishida Takeru, your best friend," he started slowly and calmly. When Ken remained his cold gaze on him, he frowned.

"Listen to me! Your favorite game is Tetris and you hate crowds and love computers. You have a scar near your scalp from an accident on the monkey bars when you were six. You like listening to classical music and hate your mother's cooking though you never say so out of respect and appreciation for her efforts. You love Osamu and look up to him, but you feel empowered by his presence and the attention he gets sometimes!" he exclaimed, smirking in satisfaction at the astonished look on Ken's face. "Need more?" he added, arching an eyebrow.

Inner turmoil was exactly what Ken was going through. His mind was screaming at him, half believing him, half not. How did Takeru know about the issue with Osamu? He never told anyone at all. It was the same with his mother's cooking. He gazed into Takeru's eyes, searching for any indication of untrustworthiness. When he didn't, he looked down at his palm again. He also knew about the strange sign on his hand. All he ever thought of it was that he was dreaming since it always showed up at night or that he was just hallucinating. But then the blond had one, too. And he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling in his heart telling him to trust him. Finally he dropped his hand in resignation. He looked up at Takeru cautiously. For now he would go along with what he said.

"Let's get started then," he murmured faintly, waving to the computer. Takeru stood up and slapped his hand across Ken's back affectionately.

"I see your doubt, Ken. You could never hide anything from me. Trust me…it'll be worth it in the end," he replied reassuringly. And there was something in his tone that sounded so innocent, so hopeful, that Ken couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

TBC


	4. Acquaintances

**Chapter III**

"What is _wrong_ with you, Yamato?"

The blond snapped his head up and saw an angry band mate glaring at him. He shook his head and tried his best to smile. "Oh, nothing. Just…thinking," he replied quietly, placing his guitar over him in a daze. Akira raised an eyebrow wearily at him before waving his drumsticks in the air, signaling the others to begin.

Yamato played the melodic tunes out of memory, however, and his heart was not into the singing at all. He had a distinct feeling that something was wrong with Takeru. It struck him hard while he was tuning the guitar. He had managed to snap one of his strings, something he rarely did. Luckily he had a spare, but it was enough to make him shudder all over. Akira and the others asked if he was all right, but he shook it off. They wouldn't understand even if he explained it to them. As he continued singing the sad and disheartening words, he wondered whether Takeru was all right. Now he felt fine, but what was that strange feeling he experienced before about? It couldn't have just come out of nowhere.

The song lurched to a stop and Yamato looked at his band mates in surprise. Suddenly Eitoku, the bassist, walked over to him with a look of concern on his face. He placed a hand on Yamato's shoulder and watched him worriedly.

"Yamato…are you sure you're all right? You could go home you know. We can practice another time," he remarked soothingly. The blond smiled gratefully at him and the others. They were really too good to him. He nodded and set his guitar into his case.

"I'm sorry…there's just a lot on my mind right now," he explained apologetically before Akira stopped him.

"Hey, no biggie! Your brother just came home a few days ago. Hell, I'd be in a state of shock and confusion too if my sister came back after four years of being in a mental ward!" he exclaimed, grinning.

The blond smiled at him amusedly and gathered his things before heading out the door.

"Thanks you guys. Call me when you come up with another time to practice," he called out as he left the room.

He heard a faint reply from Akira that sounded an awful lot like, "Well, we don't really need practice. We _are_ the best band this town's had in _years_…"

He grinned as he crossed the street. Maybe he was taking everything a little too hard. He was sure Takeru was all right, yet he still felt like going home for some comfort. He wouldn't be completely satisfied until he saw his little brother in person. As he turned the corner, he snickered. He was beginning to treat Takeru like a little boy again.

But that thought was cut off as he crashed into a rushing passerby. The blond's guitar and schoolbag were sprawled out on the ground, as was a numerous amount of books and papers. Rubbing his head, Yamato sat up in a slight daze. Who had he crashed into? He eyed his surroundings and found a young man with dark blue hair groaning as he sat up before him. Yamato blinked as he looked at the stranger's face. Blue hair, dark brown eyes, and glasses. They seemed very familiar to him somehow. Suddenly remembering his manners, he stood up and offered a hand to the stranger, who took it almost immediately.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I didn't mean to—"

"God! Look at my stuff! I'll never be there in time now! I'm always late!" interrupted the blue-haired man as he bent down, quickly gathering his belongings like a squirrel gathering nuts. Yamato stared at him, a bit offended. The man didn't even care about the collision. And it was _his_ fault for running and not looking before he turned the corner. Yamato frowned. He hated corners. The blond bent down and picked up his bag and guitar easily, quickly checking to see if his instrument wasn't damaged after the whole chaotic scene.

"Excuse me!"

The stranger briefly pushed Yamato to the side once again as he walked away swiftly with his books in hand. The blond stared in shock at the stranger.

"Why that fucking little bastard. He doesn't even thank me for helping him and he pushes me _again_? Fuck him," Yamato muttered under his breath angrily. People like that stranger angered him. The blond quickly memorized the face of the man. Then he could be the rude and obnoxious one if they ever crossed paths again. With a grunt, he turned around and started walking again, all thoughts of the man being familiar gone from his mind.

* * *

Ken was still dubious about Takeru's intentions. True, the boy's tone of voice seemed genuine, but the thought of another parallel world like theirs was laughable. It was an obtrusive idea that he still didn't know why he was going along with. The first hour they were looking up a numerable amount of people that gave Ken a headache, but Takeru pushed him on. Eventually they located a man by the name of Yagami Taichi. At the first sight of that name on the computer screen, the blond literally jumped for joy, a smile lighting up his face. It was quite a shock to see Takeru so happy. The boy had been nothing but grim and serious from the moment Ken met him.

And then they headed out to search for this Taichi.

Of course Ken was skeptical. There must have been other people in Japan by the name of Yagami Taichi. But Takeru had given him the explanation of, "he had a feeling." It was not enough to reassure him, though. And they continued walking down the streets of Nagasaki. Ken looked around the place in awe. He had never been anywhere else other than his own neighborhood in Kumamoto. Takeru himself had come all the way down from Tokyo. How Takeru even got all the way down there was something Ken never asked. It was most definitely a long ride, however, whichever way of transport he used.

"C'mon! We're almost there!" exclaimed the blond as he hurried down the block.

Ken forced himself to walk faster, panting slightly. Takeru was without a doubt a lot faster than he was and he wasn't used to this much physical exertion in the first place. Computers and figuring things out was his specialty. He glanced at Takeru again and noticed the look of determination in it. He didn't know what it was, but there was something different about the blond. It wasn't the fact that he was quiet and enigmatic, but he held a certain quality in his eyes that made him unique. He seemed to have gone through much, concluded Ken. Shaking his head furiously at the ridiculous thought, he snickered bitterly. He was never good at reading people either.

Suddenly the blond lurched to a stop, Ken bumping into him in surprise. As he looked up to apologize, he realized that Takeru didn't even notice the little mishap. In fact the blond was staring straight ahead as if in a trance. Ken followed his gaze and his eyes fell upon a girl with short brown hair and dark amber eyes. He froze also as if something cold gripped onto his heart. There was something almost too familiar about that girl. He looked at Takeru for answers and found that he had recovered already. He stared straight at the girl as she did the same to him.

"Hikari."

Ken glanced at the girl. Her eyes widened considerably as she dropped the books she was holding in her arms. Raising one hand to her lips, she stared at Takeru in horrified shock.

"Y-You… I've seen you in my dreams," she barely whispered. Takeru bounded forward, Ken following quickly behind. If Takeru wasn't telling the truth, why did he sense familiarity with this girl? He never met her in his entire life…unless Takeru _was_ correct about the whole theory of the Digital World. Pursing his lips, he stayed quiet until the blond spoke.

"Hikari. So you know who I am?" he asked, staring at her darkly. The blond towered over her seeing as how her height reached a little under his shoulder. Ken stared at Takeru in surprise. At that moment, the blond looked almost menacing. He was surprised the girl was still facing him so boldly.

But the girl's lips quivered as she raised an unsteady hand at the blond. "I've been having dreams lately… I couldn't get any sleep and you were in them! But…but," she explained, blanching quite suddenly. She looked almost as if she was about to faint until Takeru grabbed her shoulders tightly, but in a gentle manner. Ken watched in surprise as the blond looked into the girl's eyes with unspoken words. The girl seemed to stop quivering then.

She suddenly looked down at the ground as Takeru let her go.

"Takeru…I've missed you."

And Ken just stared at the two in mystification.

"Of all the rotten luck…"

Yamato glanced at his watch worriedly. It was nearly seven thirty and there wasn't any sign of Takeru. The only thing the boy had left was a note saying he was heading off to Kumamoto and would call. The blond frowned and tapped the table impatiently. The note was dated at eight in the morning. Why would Takeru go all the way down to Kumamoto? They didn't have any friends or relatives living down there. Yamato groaned and collapsed against the couch. His parents were due to be home late also. And amazingly enough, they were the ones telling him to calm down about the whole situation.

Finally, he stood up and grabbed his jacket while walking out of the apartment. He couldn't stay inside anymore. Perhaps a walk would calm down his nerves. Inside he was fuming. Takeru was home for less than two weeks, and already he was missing. Why did Takeru do this to him?

"Agh!"

Déjà vu leapt at Yamato's eyes as he found himself sitting on the pavement with a stranger in front of him. The blond shook his head to clear his thoughts. Instantly he was reminded of his earlier incident. As he raised his head to look at the stranger, he froze. Familiarity struck him once again and he narrowed his eyes dangerously. It was the same person from before, he knew it. That shade of blue was unnatural even in their neighborhood.

"Fate has a way with twisting a person doesn't it?" he remarked, glaring darkly at the blue-haired figure. The man, who this time was not in a hurry, stood up and looked at Yamato in puzzlement.

"Excuse me?" he replied dumbly. The blond looked vaguely familiar to him. But what made him utter such a comment?

Yamato rolled his eyes. "You. Earlier. Crash. Books," he explained between clenched teeth. Normally the blond wouldn't overreact the way he was, but he was venting his anger on the stranger. He knew it wrong inside, but he didn't care at the moment.

Jyou blinked in surprise. There was something almost familiar about that glare on him, but he ignored it. "Oh! God, I'm so sorry. I was in a hurry. Seriously, I didn't mean to be so rude," he quickly apologized. He hated it when people were mad at him. But the blond had caught him at the wrong time in the day. He was late for class and worse was the fact that the train had been malfunctioning, forcing him to walk a long twenty blocks. Of course the blond probably didn't want to hear that long excuse.

"Ha, ha, yeah, whatever."

Yamato rolled his eyes and began walking again. He felt a good bit calmer now that part of his anger was diminished. Forcing his hands down into his pockets, he sighed and tried to calm down his rage. His father always reprimanded him on having a bad temper.

Jyou stared at the retreating figure in silence. His head was cocked to the side slightly, a look of wonder sprawled on his face. A name kept popping into his head as he stared at the mesh of blond hair. He frowned deeply. But he never met this man before until today. How could he just assume a name?

"Yamato," he murmured quietly, blinking at the name. It sounded realer now that he said it in the open. What had caused that name to surface? He didn't know any Yamato. Frowning even more, he shook his head and began walking the other way. Shin would kill him for being home so late.

* * *

TBC


	5. Beginnings

**Chapter IV**

The reunion was brief.

In fact it only lasted for about half an hour before Hikari had to head home. Something about having chores to do, Ken recalled. And since that time Takeru had been sitting on the bench outside her apartment building in deep thought. His eyes were closed and Ken wasn't sure whether he was even awake anymore. Glancing at his watch he frowned. Time was never something he liked to deal with especially since it was ticking towards ten. He called his mother, giving her the excuse he would be sleeping over at a friend's house. That itself nearly gave her heart attack but she was pleased to know that Ken actually did have a social life. It made the boy sick to his stomach to lie to her, though.

What if she found out? But then again he never told her where he was going. His parents trusted him too much. They believed he could do no wrong. If only they knew where he was at that moment. They would die of shock. Ken snickered. That thought had managed to calm down his nerves slightly.

"I think we should go back."

The boy nearly jumped at the sudden remark. He turned around and saw Takeru staring at him with steely eyes. Ken nodded numbly and watched as the blond stood up. Then he brushed past him and began his walk. Ken followed meekly. Takeru was sometimes too much for him. He was happy and talkative one moment and the next he was dark and silent. Most of the times he was the latter. Ken shook his head in exasperation. There were just some things that were beyond explanation. Humans were one of the many enigmas in the universe.

"Ah, I told my mother I would be sleeping over at friend's house… So I really can't go back home and I really don't have any other friends I can sleep over at…," Ken suddenly remembered.

He stuttered the sentence bashfully. Some genius he was. Put him in a real life situation and he panicked. He stared at Takeru's back for a moment, expecting something. But all he got was silence. Ken cocked his head to the side and sighed. It seemed like Takeru was in one of his dark moods again.

"So just sleep over at my house."

The reply surprised Ken so much that he froze in his place. Takeru, noticing the lack of response, turned around and arched an eyebrow. "Besides, it also gives me a good reason as to why I was all the way down here," he added with a bit of a smirk. Ken blinked at him in surprise before he finally let out a laugh. It was more out of relief if anything, though.

"Wow! Um…thanks," he replied, a look of amusement and surprise on his face. Takeru agreed to the entire thing so quickly and fluidly that it almost felt as if he expected it to happen. Ken shook his head. He wouldn't have been surprised if the blond said he was psychic at that point. Takeru had an incredibly peculiar ability to surprise people when they least expected it.

It made him wonder what he and that Hikari girl was talking about. They seemed very intense when they were speaking, though Ken didn't really understand anything they were saying. Something about a Pathogen and the boy named Daisuke again. He dared not interrupt, though. Takeru looked like a nice and sweet kid and sometimes he even pretended to act like it, but he was anything but. The boy was a walking contradiction.

"You're probably wondering what Hikari and me were talking about weren't you?" Takeru suddenly inquired, glancing to his right slightly. He caught the look of surprise on Ken's face and smiled to himself. Even if Ken didn't remember everything about the Digital World, he was still the same best friend he had before. Ken was easy to read once he let down his guards. Takeru didn't even have to ask to already know what Ken's answer would be.

"Well…yeah…"

The blond almost laughed before he turned around to look at Ken. The boy blinked up at him with some alarm. Takeru arched an eyebrow. Did he really look that intimidating? Smiling slightly, he waved Ken over to him. The boy sped up his pace until he was right beside Takeru.

"It's okay to ask questions you know. When we first entered the Digital World, you definitely didn't care whether any of the questions you asked were…a little farfetched. You just asked," Takeru murmured softly, looking at Ken amusedly. The boy had a look of wonder in his eyes before he stared at Takeru in the eye. He smirked and a bit of his old self shone through his expression.

"So what were you talking about?" he asked boldly, arching an eyebrow. To Ken it was weird to ask a question. Takeru was right on one thing, though. He was used to being the one giving out answers. But asking them felt comfortable, too. In fact it almost felt familiar. Like a side he hadn't known existed until that moment.

The blond grinned and shrugged. "We were just sort of reminiscing on the past. We're going to meet up with her again, though. She gave me her number and she'll be in Tokyo during the weekend. Hopefully she'll be able to get Taichi and then we can do some real hunting," he replied, a look of vigor in his eyes.

Ken merely nodded along with his words. He was really too surprised to say anything. This was the second time he had seen Takeru so ardent about something besides the first time when he was trying to convince Ken to believe in the whole Digital World mess. Now he was slowly being more and more convinced by the whole situation even though it still sounded so unreal to him.

"You can meet my brother. He's a cool guy. He was also partaking in the Digital World thing but he doesn't remember either. I haven't gotten around to explaining it to him so don't mention anything about it, okay?" Takeru said, eying Ken darkly. The boy nodded, smiling slightly. Yes, people always left their siblings the last ones to deal with. If he were in Takeru's place he would tell Osamu last, too.

"What's Digital World? Is that a new game?" he replied, arching an eyebrow. Takeru grinned back.

"In a way it is," he replied, looking ahead again. Ken suddenly frowned and a puzzled expression crossed over his features.

"Um…how are we going to get back anyway?" he asked, looking at the tall blond questionably. Suddenly another question posed over his mind. How did Takeru come all the way from Tokyo to Nagasaki in the first place? Takeru abruptly froze in his path and Ken was slightly startled as he stared at him in confusion.

The blond slowly turned to face Ken, a mixture of a smirk and grin on his face. "You ready for this?" he asked strangely. The dark-haired boy didn't know how to respond as he opened his mouth, no words falling from it. Takeru suddenly grabbed Ken's arm and the boy soon felt his world fading away into dust.

* * *

If you were to look at the land, you wouldn't say much about it. In fact one might not even care to take another glance at it. It was a deep, muddy brown color that held no life whatsoever. The air was hot and thick with humidity and even the sky was a mustard color where the clouds never seemed to move. The sun shone down like beams that made the entire scene even more unbearable. The ground was enriched with nothing but dirt and soil that was moist, making it hard to tread through. It was like a desert, but the weather stayed the same in that region all the time, never changing.

They called it the Wilderness and hardly anyone dared walk on its arid soil. Those who did often found themselves facing more than just rough weather. In the Wilderness lived strange and horrible creatures like the ones from a child's nightmare. There were huge snakelike reptilians that emerged from the ground whenever they pleased, feeding on those poor souls who crossed the land. Even worse there were trees on the land. But they were stripped bare and weren't really trees at all. They took on that form to fool those passing by but they were just as bad as the other creatures. Using their branches, they swept unsuspecting travelers by the feet and engulfed them into their large trunks—never to be found again.

Then there was the one who never feared going through the Wilderness.

He alone had traveled in and out of the Wilderness so many times that people marveled at his strength and courage. For he was the only one who did what no other creature dare do:

He spoke to the creatures.

Yes, as strange as it was he was polite to the large and fearful creatures and they took him in as friend of the Wilderness. Whenever he walked into their land, they welcomed him warmly. There was a certain charm about him that even they liked and accepted. Then again he was the only one of his kind to even be wandering around in the Digital World.

And his name was Motomiya Daisuke.

He was the second keeper of Friendship and Courage. Both he kept well in his heart and that was what kept him alive these four years by himself. At the moment he was making his way through the brighter regions of the Digital World. In comparison to the Wilderness, the land was beautiful and fruitful. The hills were rich with green and the sky shone a clear blue with small puffy white clouds moving with the cool wind. Daisuke walked along the region, taking in the essence around him before arriving to a small village near a clear pond.

The village was filled with small old fashion huts about the height of his waist except for the one main palace, which stretched far beyond his reach. The roofs were made of straw and the houses themselves were almost in the shape of a coconut. The people living there, however, were even more curious.

Out came a small army of what looked like bobbing white heads. But in fact they were the digimon living in that village called Koromon. They greeted Daisuke excitedly and the boy laughed at their excitement.

"It's good to see that you're all well! Does anyone know where Agumon is?" he asked. They all jumped even more excitedly. They were still in training so that was all they could do before they evolved to a higher level.

One Koromon with a ragged-looking ear shouted out the answer. "He's at the water well!" he exclaimed, looking very pleased with himself. Daisuke smiled at him and thanked him before turning to face the crowd again.

"Well, I have to go now you guys! See you all later!" he called out as he began walking in a different direction.

"Bye, bye, Daisuke!" the Koromon shouted unanimously.

The boy shook his head in amusement before sighing and running a hand through his spiky hair. The Koromon were kind enough, but they were a little too hyper and naïve for Daisuke's tastes. As he walked through the sparkling woods, Daisuke took in the sight. The area was more shaded and cooler than the Koromon village and he was thankful. Even if his element was fire, he couldn't stand for it very long. Finally the well came into view and Daisuke spotted the lone yellow digimon standing beside it.

Approaching him quietly so as not to disrupt him, Daisuke watched the small digimon. He was staring into the waters and whispering something to himself. Finally he closed his eyes and turned around, jumping slightly at the sight of the boy.

"Eh, Daisuke! You really shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" he exclaimed humouredly. The boy smiled and walked up to him, looking down at the well for a moment.

"So what brings you to this place, hm? I thought you didn't like water," he mocked, arching an eyebrow. Memories stun clear through his mind, memories he had tried to forget. They were the ones with the other kids his age, the people he thought were his friends. Now they were gone—abandoning him. One memory of a blond made him sneer. Trust was a good attribute to have but he really should have been more careful.

He should have left Takeru to die.

Daisuke glared darkly at his reflection. Now he and the others were probably relishing in a life without him. And he was stuck in the Digital World for who knew how long. Pathogen was getting rowdier than usual, too. Finally he shook his head to clear away his negative thoughts and put on a smile.

"Well, the Koromon are missing you I think. And I did pick you to protect that village for a reason you know," Daisuke remarked, wagging a finger playfully in front of Agumon's eyes. The yellow digimon closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Hey, you would be nothing without me!" he exclaimed.

The burgundy-haired boy laughed aloud and snapped his fingers. "What are you talking about? I still have Leomon or Andromon to back me up!" he retorted, smirking at the crestfallen expression on Agumon's face. The boy laughed and patted the digimon's back. "Come on! I'm only kidding. Let's go," he said soothingly. Agumon stuck his tongue out at Daisuke and ran away before Daisuke could respond.

But the boy did respond eventually by producing a fireball in his hand and aiming it straight at Agumon's path. A faint cry of pain was heard soon after causing Daisuke to smirk.

He always got the last laugh.

* * *

"Holy fuck!"

"I think that's the first time I ever heard you curse."

"Shut up."

Ken looked around his surroundings with a mixed expression of confusion, shock, and adrenaline. The ride was, to put it simply, incredible. It was is if being trapped inside a tornado—everything rushed past his eyes yet he remained amazingly still, held by Takeru's strong grip. Then as quickly as it came, it stopped. According to Takeru, it had been less than five seconds. Ken couldn't fathom the idea as he looked at the buildings and streetlights of an unfamiliar territory. He glanced at Takeru, who was staring at him amusedly, before gesturing to the scene before them extravagantly.

"Welcome to Tokyo," he announced with a half smile. Ken stared at him blankly before breaking out into laughter. Takeru arched an eyebrow in confusion as he lowered his arm.

"You…act so calmly! We just got here by some kind of tornado thing and you just act as if it was an ordinary walk in a park! If only Osamu saw this…," Ken sputtered in between breaths. Takeru remained still, but there was a glint in his eyes. It seemed like Ken was beginning to adjust. That was good.

He sighed and motioned for Ken to start walking. The streets were practically empty and fortunately no one was at the site when they landed. Takeru had made sure of that.

"Come on, my brother will kill me if I get home any later," he murmured. Ken nodded slightly and followed Takeru's path, hiding his smile. It seemed as if Takeru was human after all. He had an older brother who seemed very overprotective of him and the blond seemed to care whether or not he pleased him, too.

They started walking silently. Ken couldn't help but look around at the tall buildings in awe and at the people they passed. Tokyo was so much different compared to his own neighborhood. He wondered how much farther they would have to walk.

"How did you bring us here?" he suddenly asked. The question was never properly answered, though he had never properly asked it either—unless Takeru read minds, which Ken somehow wouldn't have been surprised if he did.

The blond glanced at Ken and for a moment remained still until he smiled. Ken blinked in surprise. It was an actual genuine smile. The dark-haired boy thought to himself quickly.

_He has a nice smile. I wonder why he doesn't do it more often. He doesn't look as sad…_

"I'll explain another time. But it's a gift that I haven't completely mastered yet."

Ken shot Takeru a dubious look, but decided not to question him on it. The blond was too much of an enigma for him. He usually liked solving puzzles, but Takeru was different. He was moody and dangerous at the same time. Somehow, he felt that the blond wasn't always this way, though.

Watching the pavement as they walked, Ken thought to himself. The entire day seemed so unreal. Ever since he had encountered Takeru, his whole life was switched upside down. He was some kind of savior in an entirely different world with a group of other people? The thought seemed so preposterous that it became almost believable at the same time. Ken sighed again and looked at Takeru in the corner of his eye. The blond always seemed so cold and unmoving. Why did he hide himself under that mask? Ken was positive that there was more to Takeru's side of the story than he was shedding. For instance why was Takeru the only one who remembered? Ken pondered on that last thought for a while. Yes, he had never even bothered thinking of that before. How was it that the blond was the only one who remembered their past? It didn't make any sense at all.

"We're here."

The dark-haired boy blinked up in surprise and looked at the building in which Takeru was standing in front of. Ken tilted his head back and let his eyes widen in awe. Since when were apartment buildings that huge and glamorous? He looked at the blond for a moment. His parents must have made good money.

"Come on," Takeru remarked as he held the door open for Ken.

The boy nodded and quickly jogged over, looking around on the inside of the apartment in shock. He had always thought that his own apartment building was large, but Takeru's home completely proved him wrong. The lobby was white and there were huge glass windows by the side and two staircases leading off in the opposite direction and the main elevator decorated in silver exterior in the middle of the room. There was even an old fashioned chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling that seemed to make the entire place more surreal. As Takeru walked ahead of him and pressed the up button on the control panel, Ken walked slowly towards him, still gawking at their surroundings.

"Is this an apartment building or a hotel?"

The blond turned around and grinned at Ken as the elevator arrived with a light ding. He waved Ken over as he walked in, a look of amusement plastered on his face. Simple things always easily impressed Ken.

"I'm still trying to get used to it myself."

Ken cocked an eyebrow up and inquired Takeru silently as he pushed the thirteenth button. Then a look of surprise replaced his question as he opened his mouth in an "o" shape. "You live on the _thirteenth_ floor?" he remarked dubiously. His apartment building only went up to six floors.

Takeru chuckled quietly at his Ken's reaction. "It's the highest floor, but trust me, nothing's ever happened on it worth worry," he replied as the doors closed with a barely noticeable slide. Ken somehow remained concerned, however, even though he never believed in superstitions. But if there was such thing as a Digital World, then why couldn't there be such thing as bad luck?

"Well, there was that one incident…"

The blood suddenly rushed down from Ken's face as he remained frigid.

* * *

TBC


	6. Remembrance

**Chapter V**

"Takeru, you went all the way to Kumamoto to pick up a friend? Couldn't you have at least called? What the hell were you doing all day anyway? Do you know how worried I have been?"

Ken stifled his laughter as he watched Takeru endure the long rants of his older brother, whom Ken found to be sort of like his own brother, Osamu. Both were rather protective of their younger siblings. And Takeru still wore the stoic expression on his face as he stared at Yamato. Ken cringed slightly at the loudness of his voice. Though Osamu's reproaches were usually quieter and more scornful than Yamato's.

Finally Yamato calmed down a bit and Takeru made his move quickly, pulling Ken over to his side. "Oniichan, meet Ichijouji Ken," he announced in a would be enthusiastic tone if it hadn't been for his lack of facial expression. The older man froze for a second and eyed Ken carefully, making the boy feel like some kind of exhibition. Finally Yamato sighed and nodded.

"Hey, I'm Yamato," he replied before glaring at Takeru. "_His_ older brother!" he added snappily.

Ken covered his laugh by coughing and tried his best not to look at Yamato's seething expression; otherwise he knew he would laugh. But when he did look into the older man's eyes, he sensed something quite familiar about him. It was almost the same welcoming feeling he felt when he first saw Takeru, but this one was more out of respect than friendliness. Takeru did tell him that Yamato was part of their group. Perhaps that was why he felt a strange familiarity about him. Would he experience it with all the others, too, then?

"Yamato…I'm home. I'm fine. So just let us have some dinner."

Takeru's voice cut in Ken's thoughts and he looked at the blond in surprise. He had said it in an almost weary tone as if he was exhausted, and now that Ken inspected him more closely, he found that the blond did indeed look a bit paler than usual. Yamato sighed and crossed his arms, a look of annoyance on his face, but he allowed Takeru and Ken to walk into the kitchen.

Once inside, Ken took his time examining the entire place. The blond's apartment was more like a house. He had never seen such a vast apartment in his entire life. Their living room was white and almost completely empty except for the long black couch and large television set with speakers hanging on the corners of the room and a table that sat before the couch. Other than that, it was bare. The kitchen was almost just as large with black tiles. In fact the entire apartment had black tiles. And the kitchen was large and spacious with plenty of pots, pans, and cups hanging. There were also two refrigerators located on opposite ends. Ken began wondering how Takeru's room looked like.

There was food set up on the large counter that stood outside the kitchen with stools beside it. There was also a table set up inside the kitchen, but no one seemed to eat there for some reason. Ken's attention was soon drawn to the food, each set up beautifully and neatly on different plates like a restaurant. Takeru took out two white bowls and chopsticks and gave them to Ken, who was already seated on one the stools. He sat down beside him and smiled slightly at the food. Then he leaned in closer to Ken and whispered in his ear.

"Yamato cooked this, so compliment him afterwards. That'll put him in a good mood."

Ken had to chuckle at Takeru's comment before he started scooping out some rice. He bit into a sushi roll and was surprised at the taste. Yamato was a better cook than he thought. Now he knew he didn't have to lie about his cooking as he began picking more things and placing them in his mouth.

"You can see my room afterwards, though trust me, it's nothing compared to the living room and kitchen," Takeru muttered as he picked his food gently with his chopsticks. Ken looked at him in wonder.

"You aren't hungry?" he queried in suspicion. Takeru had been with him for the entire day and not once did he see the blond eat. And he was starting to look worse, too, as he stared at his bowl vacantly. He was paler and he seemed to be having trouble breathing. He was about to question this before Yamato's voice suddenly cut in.

"Takeru, get your ass in here right now! Don't think I'll let you escape that easily!"

Ken watched in silence as Takeru almost painstakingly stood up from his stool. He walked away slowly and calmly, but Ken still worried over that slight panting he had as he walked. He turned around and began eating more slowly. Maybe he was concerned over nothing, but he couldn't help but get a wrenching feeling in his stomach.

* * *

"So how was your day, Dais?"

Daisuke glanced at the blond-haired youth beside him and sneered in a playful manner. "You would know, Wallace," he replied airily while the blond cocked at eyebrow at him. Daisuke smiled to himself. If Wallace had never accidentally found his way into the Digital World, he probably would have died a long time ago. Losing all his friends to Pathogen was hard enough, but when they didn't come back for him, that was what pained him most. Wallace was a light from the outside world and his only link to humanity.

"Gee, you don't have to be so bitter," the blond remarked, smirking benignantly. The goggle boy glared at him, but he knew it was all in good humor. It was always like that. Never did Daisuke ever truly get mad with him. They were a strange pair that always seemed to get along. Then Daisuke had told him about another blond he knew, whose name was Takeru. He remembered laughing when Daisuke told them they never got along very well. Daisuke had said Takeru was too happy and "air-heady" for him to handle.

Wallace had to wonder on what Daisuke really felt about his former counterparts. The only things he had heard from the boy were that they were all good friends and he opinionated them as family—all except Takeru of course. He wondered what made them so cold to each other and now he was afraid to mention it at all. Daisuke usually ended up lashing out at him and he always retained that certain icy look in his eyes whenever he mentioned Takeru. Wallace couldn't explain it, but he felt that there was more to the two's relationship than Daisuke let on. When he first entered the Digital World, he thought he was the only human there until Daisuke discovered him half-buried in sand. The next week or so was spent nursing him back to health.

The only difference between his and Daisuke's situation was that he was able to go back to his world and Daisuke wasn't. It was strange, but Wallace never figured out how he had entered the world in the first place. He remembered seeing an old woman on the street in New York ranting on and on about the end of the world when her chilling eyes rested on his and suddenly he found himself sucked into the Digital World. At first he was in shock and complaining quite a great deal until he finally got used to the idea and soon he found it all fascinating. When he came back from the Digital World the first time, though, his parents were in a wreck thinking that he was kidnapped. It took a lot of excuses and explanations to finally calm them down. Now, four years after that incident, he found he could travel back and forth between worlds as often as he pleased. His link to the Digital World was the old abandoned warehouse where he first saw the old woman. But he never saw her anymore after that incident.

"Don't you have to go home soon?"

Wallace snapped out of his reverie and turned to face Daisuke, who wore a bemused expression. The blond narrowed his eyes slightly as he wondered what his friend would be thinking about. "Yeah…day passes by fast here," he remarked quietly, standing up slowly.

Daisuke nodded as he watched his counterpart in silence. "A few hours feels like minutes here doesn't it?" he retorted. Wallace nodded and pulled on his backpack with a grin.

"Hey, winter recess is coming up soon. I can visit you longer then," he suggested as he headed towards the well from whence he always came through.

The dark-haired boy grinned as he watched the boy climbing into the well with a look of pure concentration. Even after four years, he still feared looking down into that well even though he had to fall into it in order to go to the other side. Daisuke had attempted it once and ended up needing to be rescued by V-mon. It was embarrassing and frustrating at the same time.

"See you, Motomiya!"

With that, the blond let his grip on the rim slip as he fell away from sight. Daisuke titled his head to the side slightly as Agumon approached him quietly.

"You'll be able to go back someday, Daisuke."

The boy narrowed his eyes as his mind drifted off to another particular blond-haired boy he knew. Only this time he was not in good humor with this one as he envisioned his revenge. Anger consumed him once again. Takeru would pay for leaving him behind.

"Till we meet again," he murmured in a faraway tone that caused a startle from the fire type digimon. Daisuke wore a grim expression as his eyes stared deeply ahead of him in thought.

_Until then…Takeru._

* * *

"Did your brother yell at you?"

"Something like that."

It had been merely fifteen minutes since Takeru had been called over to Yamato's room and ever since then, Ken had been experiencing a sense of inadequacy. The blond had returned into one of sullen moods again and that always made him nervous. He sat in Takeru's chair, staring at the blank computer screen, unsure of what to do. When Takeru returned he just lied flat down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Ken had gotten the impression they would begin working that night but now he wasn't so sure. He wracked his mind to find something reasonable to say. Silence was usually his friend, but not this sort of unnerving, dead silence.

Ringing his hands, he glanced at Takeru again. "Are you okay?" he murmured as he stared the blond's still figure. He remembered how strangely Takeru acted as he ate dinner. It looked almost like he was going to faint from exhaustion. But now the blond seemed to be better. But once again silence greeted him and he sighed as he began turning away before a clear outspoken reply stopped him.

"Always the observant one."

Ken turned around again and shot Takeru a strange look. The blond seemed to be getting more and more bizarre by the second. "What do you mean?" he asked. At least he had gotten a response from him. Silence again, until the sound of movement greeted Ken's ears. He watched as Takeru sat up, looking at him seriously.

"Nothing ever seemed to go past your eyes. In other words, you were always a paranoid freak," he explained in a cool tone. Ken stared at him for a second, letting the words sink in before he suddenly glared at the blond.

"Hey!" he snapped, though deep down inside he knew Takeru's words were true. He was once again baffled. Now Takeru seemed to be getting more into the mood. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. It was better than silence he supposed.

Takeru stood up and walked over to Ken, turning on the computer.

"So listen, I suppose we could get started now," he murmured as he quickly typed in the password to login. He set his computer to connect to the Internet and after a few seconds, they were on. Takeru looked at Ken and pulled another chair beside him and sat down. Ken watched him questionably.

"Where—Whom, rather, should we start with?" he asked.

Takeru sat in silence for a moment, pondering the answer. There were so many to choose from. He glanced at Ken. "Well, we could start searching for all of them at the same time and whichever we find first, we'll check it out tomorrow along with Hikari and Taichi, if she can get him," he replied. Ken nodded and opened up several new windows before looking at Takeru again.

"What are their names?"

The blond stared at the computer blankly. It had been so long since he had actually said his friends' names out loud without being questioned. They seemed so foreign to him now, yet so familiar at the same time. He opened his mouth and slowly began reciting them.

"Kido Jyou, Izumi Koushirou, Tachikawa Mimi, Takenouchi Sora, Inoue Miyako, and Hida Iori," he said in a faraway tone. Saying their names only brought back memories of the Digital World. When they reunited, they would be a team again and they would find a way to get back to the Digital World to save whatever was left of it.

Ken stared at Takeru as he typed the names. Many of them seemed familiar, almost too familiar. He stared at the screen unsurely. Was it possible that maybe he was beginning to remember the past? He could almost picture the people's faces as he heard them. Kido Jyou, he tried to remember, had blue hair and then Izumi Koushirou was short with red hair. It was almost enough to make him freeze in his seat. He was remembering people's faces he had never even seen. He looked once again at his hand and sighed. Hundreds of responses were appearing on the screen as he eyed them all carefully. It was going to be a long night. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he glanced at Takeru, who was smiling gently at him.

"Keep hope alive," he murmured in a tone Ken didn't know the blond could muster up. It was lighter, airier, and seemed more human than anything else Takeru ever said. There was something vaguely familiar about it and before he could even think he replied with:

"And remember kindness."

* * *

TBC


	7. A Day To Celebrate

**Chapter VI**

The Koromon were always a lively village. They were small and easily loved, but when they were needed, they could be fierce and ruthless. Agumon was their leader and protector of some sorts, though his abilities weren't that much more advanced than the Koromon.

There were many other villages in the Digital World as well. Its most powerful member in the certain race led all of them as was with the Koromon village. However, they were all scattered far from each other and often rivaled against each other despite the threat of Pathogen taking over. This was where Daisuke came in. He was often the peacekeeper and held friendly relations with most of the villages. He was known to all and often called on when they needed help or his powers.

At the moment he was currently on the road down to V-mon's village. The blue fire digimon was among one of his closest friends along with Agumon and some others. He had received a message from him not too long ago asking him to come over. Something about a fire, Daisuke recalled as he sped up his pace of his Aerodramon, or Aero, as the flying dragon digimon preferred. The speed quickly doubled and Daisuke found himself launched back in his place as he tried to regain a firmer grip on his scaled friend.

"Aero! Damn, I didn't mean knock me off into the air!" he exclaimed as the wind rushed past his ears. He had forgotten the full potential of the speed of dragons for a moment. His counterpart only grunted in response and Daisuke couldn't help but laugh. Aero had only been trying to bring him back to reality. Perhaps he was worrying over something small. V-mon did have a knack for exaggerating things to an ungainly proportion.

Daisuke patted his friend's back. The digimon merely slowed down slightly so the boy could actually sit properly, or as properly as he could. Daisuke was half sitting, half lying forward on the dragon and hanging onto its two slim "tentacles" considering they did sway in the breeze. Aero called them tentacles; Daisuke called them two whiskery things. Either way, they made for good grip and kept Daisuke actually on the dragon and not slipping off the back. Daisuke looked down on his friend and wondered to himself. Technically, Aero was more like a snake dragon than an actual dragon. His body was long, smooth, and elegant with silver scales and some white hair on top of his head and yellow eyes. The fact was Aero could talk, but he rarely did so for a reason Daisuke couldn't comprehend.

"Are we there yet?"

Aero responded with a grunt yet once again and Daisuke smiled as the sight of the small village came into sight. He eyed it and its surroundings carefully. What was V-mon talking about? There wasn't a fire in sight the boy noted with some confusion. Suddenly Aero decided to dive straight down and Daisuke was pushed forward onto his chest forcibly. They landed on the ground gracefully and Daisuke sat up, gasping. He jumped off of Aero and glared at him.

"What the hell was that—"

But before he could even finish, the boy was knocked to the ground by an overexcited blue digimon. Before he could even register what happened, Daisuke found himself surrounded by digimon from all over the lands. He looked around in a daze and found himself worrying. What in the world could have made all the digimon who rivaled amongst themselves unite together in such a large group?

And the scariest part was that they were all grinning widely at him.

Daisuke looked up at Aero for help, but the dragon merely remained calm, though there was a glint of humor in his eyes. The spiky-haired youth stood up slowly, prying V-mon off of him. "Ummm," he began before he was interrupted once again by enormous cries. He staggered back in surprise as he realized what they were all trying to say at once.

"Happy birthday!"

* * *

"No, there is no such thing as the Boogie Man."

Takeru resisted a smile as the brown-haired girl walking next to him spoke. Ken had been most curious about the Digital World's creatures and had somehow turned that conversation to mythical creatures of the real world. Though some of the questions he did ask were a bit obscene, the fact that Ken actually seemed frightened of them was even more laughable.

"But Hikari, how can you prove that, huh? There isn't any proof that they don't exist," Ken objected. Even though he wanted not to believe they were real, he was still willing to defend their existence. Hikari shook her head in exasperation.

She had agreed to help Takeru with the search for the others and thought it would be easy at first. But after speaking with Ken for a few minutes, she realized exactly how much everyone had forgotten—and how much she had forgotten until Takeru came along. It was strange. When she first spotted Takeru, it was like a ray of sunlight. She knew she had seen him from before and suddenly memories flooded in. It seemed that wasn't the case for Ken, though.

"Ken, just be quiet," she replied, sighing. Normally the dark-haired boy was much more down to earth than this and even if he did have a deep fear for mythical creatures, he would usually keep it hidden and definitely wouldn't have made such a big discussion on it. Sighing again, the girl glanced at Takeru.

She was quite surprised when she received the call from him on Friday night, inviting her to go search for their other missing friends. Though it was a bit last minute, she did agree to go despite having plans to watch a movie with her brother, Taichi. She frowned as she remembered that he was also to be informed on the search later. Glancing at Takeru, she smiled slightly. It seemed they both were hiding quite the secret from their older brothers. Most likely Taichi would be able to grasp it better than Yamato, though. He was always easygoing in that manner. Yamato was a different case. He had been paranoid and overly stressed out when they first set foot in the Digital World. Hikari smiled to herself. Yes, those were happier times. Now, though, it seemed as if the spotlight shifted from Yamato to his younger brother, Takeru. He had also changed dramatically over the last four years and she still had to wonder why he never came sooner to round up the others. Seeing the look in his eyes when he spoke, though, she figured it was something that one conversation wouldn't be enough for. She would have to speak to him soon.

"Eh, Takeru? Who is it again that we are looking for?" Ken's sudden voice boomed as Hikari jumped slightly. The dark-haired boy didn't notice however as Takeru answered.

"We're heading to Koushirou's university… And since when did you have so many holes in your head? This must be the third time I've said it at _least_," the blond replied, eyeing Ken strangely. It seemed that ever since Hikari joined in the picture, the boy had been acting more and more unlike himself.

Ken turned red for a moment before shrugging. "Don't blame me," he muttered before glowering at Hikari. "Blame her. She's been totally thwarting my theories on monsters existing in the real world the whole morning," he added with a mock sneer. Hikari laughed and Takeru arched an eyebrow.

"Still…," he murmured, before suddenly stopping and pointing ahead of them. "There's the campus," he announced as Hikari and Ken joined by his side.

The site was large and it ran a good few blocks down with a mowed lawn and trees lined up together. The school itself consisted of two fairly large buildings, the dormitory, and a gym in the distance with a wide space for parking and cars. Students walked in and out in groups, talking and laughing. Takeru eyed their surroundings blankly before turning to face his counterparts.

"C'mon, I imagine Koushirou is somewhere in the dormitory. Too bad the school isn't that organized, otherwise we would've been able to find exactly what room he was in through the computer…"

Hikari and Ken nodded in silent agreement.

* * *

"You seriously were trying to give me a heart attack weren't you?"

"Aww…come on, Dais! You can't say we didn't surprise you, though!" exclaimed V-mon as he latched himself onto the boy's arm affectionately. Daisuke looked at his friend, hiding his grin. In all honestly, he never would have though the digimon would have gone this far for his birthday. He himself didn't even remember the date.

"Cake!"

Daisuke rolled his eyes as his hyperactive friend suddenly leaped at the huge cake being brought forward. It was balanced by two jumping Koromon to Daisuke's dismay. The cake bobbed from side to side and the boy quickly hurried and helped them balance it out before it dropped to the ground. He laughed as the Koromon placed it onto a huge white table set in the grassy plain.

"Having fun?"

Daisuke turned around at the sound of the new voice and found himself grinning widely at the approaching blond. "Hey, don't you have school?" he remarked, arching an eyebrow in suspicion.

Wallace shrugged lightly and smiled brightly. "Oh please! One day of missing school isn't going to ruin my record!" he exclaimed while waving his hand around lazily. "And besides, I couldn't miss your birthday!" he added, winking at the blushing boy.

Daisuke quickly smiled and turned away before he could turn any redder and faced V-mon and Aero with his hands to his hips. "Well, how in the world did you two manage to get all these digimon together, hm?" he inquired suspiciously. He himself could barely get the feuding digimon to join together sometimes. It was quite a shock to see how well they were actually cooperating with each other, too.

V-mon shrugged and jumped excitedly. "All of us like you, Daisuke! That was enough to make us get together and plan something big for you!" he exclaimed in an almost childlike manner. It was enough to make the dark-haired boy shake his head in amusement. The digimon were more thoughtful than he originally thought.

"So are you surprised? Or was this all in vain?" inquired Wallace with a smirk.

Daisuke turned to face him and laughed. "Yeah, I'm _definitely_ surprised," he replied while shaking his head in amusement.

The blond smiled cheerfully and grabbed Daisuke's hand, pulling him towards the large cake on the table. The dark-haired boy blushed immensely at this gesture as he tried to compose himself.

"Come on! You got to make a wish!"

Daisuke looked at the nineteen elaborately lit up candles and closed his eyes. This occasion had done more than surprise him, though. He felt for the first time in a long time that his life actually meant something. He opened his eyes for a moment and looked across at all his friends' faces. To an ordinary person who had never laid eyes upon digimon, they would probably laugh at the scene. Two human teenagers surrounded by strange-looking creatures, both large and small. Daisuke grinned to himself. Yes, it was an amusing thought, but these creatures were his friends. And there wasn't anything anyone else could do or say to make him think otherwise.

And then a flash of his old life passed before his eyes—the old friends he used to be so close to. Now he had to wonder how they were doing in the other world. For a fleeting moment, he grew angry at the thought. Yes, they were probably dwelling in the pleasantries of normal life while he was in the Digital World fighting off an evil invader trying to take it and its residents over. How quickly he was to grow in rage. Now he realized why he distracted himself from remembering so much. Once the memories flooded in, all the anger and pain came along as well. They were the feelings he kept hidden, even from Wallace.

"Dais, it's your birthday and you look like you're about to kill someone."

"What…?"

Daisuke suddenly blinked out of his reverie and looked embarrassingly at his blond friend. Wallace crossed his arms and shook his head as if in disappointment. "What are we going to do with you?" he remarked, feigning exasperation. Daisuke managed a smile and once again forced his feelings down as he picked up the knife.

"Well, let's cut this cake!" he exclaimed, his enthusiasm only partial. He cursed at himself as he cut the cake into slices. The day had started out so perfectly. And then he had to ruin it by remembering the others. He narrowed his eyes in frustration. They were gone now…and they would never come back.

He would finally have to stop lying to himself.

* * *

TBC


	8. Past Lives

**Chapter VII**

"Do I know you?"

"I know this may seem sudden, but do you believe in parallel universes?"

Ken rolled his eyes at Hikari's question and then glanced at Takeru, who seemed to wear the most impenetrable mask he had ever seen yet. Koushirou blinked in alarm as he stared at the petite girl before him. He then glanced at Takeru and Ken and then back at Hikari.

"I repeat, do I know you?" he replied stoically. He had been in the middle of a study session when they interrupted, and quite frankly he wished to go back to it and not be bothered by silly questions. Silence answered him as Hikari turned to face Takeru and Ken in question.

Finally Koushirou sighed loudly and began closing the door, when Takeru's hand shot forward. The redhead looked at him in alarm. "I'm sorry, Koush. You think you could let us in?" Takeru asked, staring at the computer genius in the eye. Koushirou blinked once before dropping his hand to his side in shock.

"How…why did you call me 'Koush'?" he inquired in a dull tone as if he were dreaming.

Takeru sighed and closed his eyes for a second while Hikari placed an encouraging hand over his shoulder. "Please…I'll explain everything once we're inside," he murmured quietly. Koushirou frowned for a moment before moving aside, allowing the three to enter.

As they walked in, Koushirou eyed Takeru suspiciously. Perhaps he was being too analytical, but there was just something not right about the blond…or his friends. Koushirou then closed the door and sat down by his computer while waiting patiently for the three strangers to introduce themselves fully.

Takeru looked at Ken and Hikari before sighing. Ken grinned widely at him. "If you can convince me to believe you, then you can most definitely convince Koushirou," he whispered as Takeru braced himself. The blond shot a look of gratitude at Ken before facing the waiting redhead.

"Koushirou…I know we may seem like strangers to you, but in reality we've known each other for a long time," he began as he stared at Koushirou deeply. The redhead didn't make any sort of gesture so he continued. "I'm Ishida Takeru…and my friends are Ichijouji Ken and Yagami Hikari. And in repeating Hikari's question earlier, do you believe in parallel universes?" Takeru inquired while examining Koushirou's face for any sort of emotion. What he saw was shock, disbelief, and amusement. Takeru narrowed his eyes. Perhaps Koushirou thought that they were a group of pranksters.

Koushirou then leaned back in his seat for a moment before smiling curiously. "Say I do believe in parallel universes. What would you say next?" he replied with a glint in his eyes. Takeru smiled inwardly to himself.

Koushirou was still his same old self—cautious, quick, and inquisitive. The blond sighed and folded his hands over his lap.

"I'd say… Have you ever seen a mark in the palm of your hand? The mark of Knowledge?" Takeru queried, smiling a bit in satisfaction at the brief flash of shock cross Koushirou's face before he covered it. Takeru leaned forward. "You know what I'm talking about, Koush. I can see it in your eyes. We were all friends once and part of a team…a great team that went to another world similar to ours called the Digital World. We encountered digimon and even fought off evil…before that evil sent us back here, erasing all your memories of the digimon and Digital World. I…I was the only one who remembered because of a sacrifice of one of our teammates. And he's still there till this day. Are you with me so far?" Takeru asked, as he stared at the now open look of pure shock and bewilderment on Koushirou's face.

Takeru sighed and took another deep breath. "I know you still don't believe me; I know you, Koush. You're definitely not to be taken with lightly. But I am telling the truth and I know deep down inside you believe me," murmured Takeru almost to himself.

Koushirou continued staring at him, all emotion gone from his face as his mind contemplated what Takeru said. The theory of other worlds existing besides their own had always haunted Koushirou's mind. He had also always questioned the strange mark in his right palm. It only appeared in the moonlight, though. Koushirou had noticed that whenever he went out and if there was any sort of moon in the sky, all he would have to do was raise his hand and the mark would glow brightly. He never knew what it meant and it scared him so he never told anyone.

"We need your help, Koushirou. I know you're good at computers and well…we need a portal to the Digital World that I know you can help me create," Takeru said, staring at the redhead intensely. He was not this forthright with Ken, but he learned from that experience that forthrightness was exactly what he needed when he facing Koushirou. The redhead was the type to not sit and wait for long explanations and excuses.

Suddenly Hikari spoke up. "Koush…um…," she began as Koushirou suddenly turned to face her, forgetting that she was even there. He narrowed his eyes at her as she sputtered to speak. "I know it's rather impolite of us to just burst in on you like this but you have no idea how strange this is for us. We were once a really good group of friends and now we're nothing more but strangers… Some part of me hopes that we can still be that same group of friends again…that same group that _you_ were part of. We really need you here, Koushirou," she said quietly while staring at him hopefully.

Koushirou blinked slowly and faced Takeru again. Throughout their entire speech he hadn't said a word. It was all so much information to gather…parallel universes, these weird symbols on their palms, and a group of them actually traveling to this other universe? He would normally have never accepted it if not for the feeling in his heart that told him to go for it. He glanced at the three companions and stood up for a moment. All gazes were instantly turned on him.

The redhead sighed and smiled slightly at Takeru.

"So what was this portal you were speaking of?"

The blond suddenly broke into a smile of immense relief as he stood up and waved to Ken, who instantly flew to his side. He eyed Koushirou carefully. "Here's Ken, he'll be helping you out with that portal," he said as he nodded towards the dark-haired boy. Koushirou glanced at him and nodded.

As Koushirou started up his computer, Takeru placed a hand on Ken's shoulder. "I gave you the program and hopefully the coordinates are still the same. You and Koush should be able to break into the defenses pretty easily. Me and Hikari are going to check up on Taichi and Yamato. We're trying to find a way to shed some light on them," he whispered into Ken's ear. The latter nodded and glanced at Koushirou, who was silently waiting for him.

Takeru smiled slightly and clapped his hand hard on Ken's shoulder while looking over at Koushirou.

"Take care you two!" he called out as he and Hikari began heading out the door. Ken grinned and sat down beside Koushirou, handing him a disk. He cracked his knuckles in anticipation. He had been waiting for a good time to check out this Digital World for himself. He looked at Koushirou and smiled.

"Let's get started shall we?"

* * *

"Did anyone ever tell you how insane you are?" groaned Hikari as Takeru dragged her through the subway stairs.

The blond merely grunted but didn't turn back as he continued his hurried pace to her apartment building. A wave of cold air greeted them as they walked out and Hikari pulled her scarf around herself tightly. Takeru promptly dropped her arm and she allowed herself to slow down and catch her breath as Takeru rushed on, not noticing his friend's discomfort to the slightest. He muttered on quietly to himself.

"It's so simple that I can't believe I never thought of it in the first place! God, I'm an idiot!" he exclaimed as he suddenly stopped and turned around, staring at Hikari darkly. She muttered a curse under her breath as she jogged up next to him.

"So what is this 'plan' of yours?" she muttered between clenched teeth.

She should have agreed to stay with Koushirou and Ken. Takeru was her best friend, but even she didn't have the patience to deal with his awkward mood swings. As Takeru continued ahead silently, ignoring her question, she frowned. He never used to be so absentminded nor grim. Hikari eyed the tall blond more carefully as she made a mental observation. There was most definitely a deep sense of grief in his eyes that wasn't there before. It was hidden well, but the thing that scared her the most was the fact that he seemed so utterly determined to get back to the Digital World. It was good, yes, but the idea seemed so completely burrowed into his mind that it made him appear almost maniacal about it. Hikari started wondering about that determination when Takeru stopped abruptly. She eyed him irritably.

"Will you stop that?" she complained.

The blond didn't pay any attention to her, however, as he looked up at the tall building before them. A strange look crossed Takeru's face before he covered it up again.

"Is your brother home?" he quietly inquired of Hikari. The girl looked at him in surprise before nodding mutely. A bizarre sort of smile made its way to his lips as he whipped out a cellphone from his pocket.

"Good."

* * *

Hikari shook her head in silence. So this was Takeru's great plan: call up Yamato and tell him to pick him up at Nagasaki. And then once he got there, Taichi would just be waiting ever so patiently in the living room with them and hopefully some kind of reaction would occur. Well, the part where Taichi was waiting with them wasn't a problem. Hikari suspected that he didn't really want to leave his little sister alone with some boy he never even met _supposedly_. However, those two immediately sparked up a conversation about soccer. Hikari never remembered Takeru being a soccer fanatic.

The wait for Yamato, however, proved to be a long one.

The three had been waiting in the living room for well over three hours doing all sorts of things to keep them sane. Takeru and Taichi played against each other in some video game and Hikari watched them, all the while not sure who to cheer for. After one vicious battle that Takeru won, Taichi sat back and dropped the control with a loud sigh of aggravation.

"Okay, okay, that does it! I am not playing against you anymore!" he exclaimed while pointing an accusing finger at the blond, who smirked back at him. Takeru shrugged and glanced at his watch with some concern.

"I don't understand what's taking my brother so long," he murmured quietly. And then to their utmost surprise, the sound of the buzzing bell was sounded. Takeru shared a secret glance with Hikari, who was trying hard not to laugh at the coincidental occurrence. She nodded as he stood up, cracking his knuckles.

"I guess that's him! Well, it's been nice getting to know you, Taichi," he said as he nodded towards Taichi, who merely grinned back at him.

Hikari suddenly flew to her feet. Now came her part. As Takeru made his way to the door, she grabbed his arm. "Wait! You should at least bring your brother us and introduce him! Besides it's cold outside and maybe we could offer him something warm," she said as Taichi stood up, nodding in agreement.

The spiky-haired youth looked once at Takeru. "It's a good idea. And besides, Hikari would never let you get away with it," he said with a laugh. Hikari grinned back and Takeru hid his own smile. It was fortunate for him that Hikari was always the polite host.

"Yeah, why not. I guess Yamato does deserve a break after that long trip. I'll go get him," he said as casually as he could muster. They watched him in silence as he left down the stairs.

Hikari breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God they lived on the second floor. She leaned against the doorway and Taichi went back to sit in the living room, reading a sports magazine he managed to produce from behind the couch. Hikari tapped her finger against the door and she could hear Takeru talking faintly below her. She nearly froze when she heard Yamato's voice. It's been so long, she wondered faintly to herself. Suddenly the sound of tramping feet was heard along the stairs and Hikari quickly settled herself in the kitchen, getting something to drink while hoping to herself that Taichi didn't think it strange that she rushed so quickly from the door.

"…I don't want to be an intrusion, Takeru…"

"Intrusion? You're an intrusion whether you want to be or not, Yama."

Hikari coughed loudly to hide her laughter and Taichi stood up from his place to greet the newcomer. She turned her head slightly to see around the corner and was rewarded by the sight of Yamato and Takeru approach the apartment. Taichi stood before them, sticking his hand out.

"Hey, Yagami Taichi, Hikari's older brother," she heard him announce. She smiled to herself. It was no wonder Taichi had so many friends. The way he spoke practically screamed out of friendliness and welcome.

"Oh… Ishida Yamato. Same with this rascal over here," Yamato replied in his cool tone.

Hikari marveled at how much Takeru sounded like his older brother. It was always a possibility she supposed when they were in the Digital World that Takeru would grow up to look and sound like Yamato. Their appearances were definitely similar, though Yamato retained more of that rebel look to him. Their voices were almost identical save the fact Takeru had a deeper tone. She smiled to herself. They were definitely brothers all right. She then quickly grabbed a cup and poured some green tea into it as she walked out of the kitchen, greeting Yamato with a warm smile.

"I'm Hikari," she introduced before holding up the cup before Yamato. "Tea?" she offered in a sweet tone. Yamato blinked in mild surprise but took the cup graciously.

"Thanks," he said as he sipped it. Hikari looked at Takeru and winked.

Well they had gotten the introductions down in a beat. But now they had to somehow find a way to actually make them remember. She, like Takeru, had also wanted to reveal their forgotten past to them last. But Takeru was always the braver of the two so he finally decided to take them down at the same time. It would be hard after all, to keep disappearing everyday to look for the others with Taichi and Yamato being overprotective brothers. They would probably want to come along some time or later; it would have been better to actually have them on their side and know what was going on. She sighed quietly. Luckily she was on break from school, though she didn't know much about Takeru. His whereabouts the last four years were still a complete mystery to her.

"Enough of this standing around business. Come on into the living room, Yamato," Taichi suddenly interjected.

Hikari blinked out of her reverie and noticed that Takeru was looking at her strangely. She shrugged and followed Taichi into the living room where Yamato soon came in pursuit. Takeru quietly closed the door and came in last and saw all three sitting in silence. Taichi and Hikari sat next to each other while Yamato sat bent over in the chair left of Taichi. Takeru sighed and shook his head. This was not at all how he planned it to be. But he supposed that it would also have been near miracle if the two recognized each other immediately like the way he and Hikari had. The two were best friends, but Hikari and him had linked crests that pretty much made the two almost inseparable. He still thought back with some amusement on how everyone kept saying they would end up together for that was not the case at all.

"Good tea."

The comment rang clearly through the entire apartment and everyone looked at Yamato in surprise. He placed the cup gently down on the table and cleared his throat with some discomfort. _Even Yamato can get nervous_, Takeru mused amusedly. Hikari stood up and took the cup.

"Do you want more?" she asked, looking hopefully at Yamato. The more time they wasted, the better chance they had of the two sparking some kind of remembrance of each other. To her disappointment Yamato shook his head and looked sharply at Takeru.

"We really ought to go, Takeru," he said in a surprisingly serious tone. The younger of the two nodded slightly, while smiling to himself inside. He knew that tone Yamato was using. It was the one he always used whenever he was uncertain about something and needed to think. Perhaps the silence hadn't been so bad. Yamato did always tend to think more than talk anyway.

He stood up and took his coat while throwing Yamato his. "Let's go then," he stated simply as Hikari stared at him, jaw-dropped.

Even Yamato was a bit unnerved by the casualty Takeru responded with. He was suspicious of his actions ever since he invited him up to introduce him to Hikari. Takeru was an amiable boy, but he never sounded so willing and excited to introduce Hikari to him, no matter how subtle his tone was. Takeru was his brother and he knew…or used to know every face he had. Yamato then glanced at Taichi. Somehow when he introduced himself, he was struck by the oddest familiarity. It completely baffled him and the more Taichi seemed to talk, the stronger the feeling got until Yamato was practically sure he knew Taichi from somewhere—and that just confused him further.

"Yamato?"

The blond turned his head sharply and saw Takeru waiting for him patiently at the door. He nodded quickly and gathered his coat into his shoulders, zipping it up. He then turned around and smiled at Hikari and Taichi.

"It was nice to meet you," he said, his gaze wondering on the both of them as Hikari nodded and as Taichi remained silent.

Yamato turned on his heel and then promptly opened the door and hurried out the hallway. He heard Takeru call out a good-bye and heard both Hikari and Taichi respond with an enthusiastic, "See you later!" As he rushed past the stairs, he wondered to himself. Yes, even Hikari seemed familiar now. Her warm face and smile haunted his mind along with Taichi's own friendly grin and voice. Perhaps he was going insane. He only met the two today!

"They're nice aren't they, Yama?"

Yamato nearly jumped at the sound of his brother and noticed that Takeru had already met up with his quick pace. He nodded mutely. He wasn't in a mood to talk about it, though he was sure Takeru would pester him about it later on. He couldn't help it, however, as one comment slipped from his lips: "They seem very familiar to me."

To that Takeru didn't respond and for a second Yamato wondered if he had said anything at all. Yamato turned to face Takeru and noticed a queer expression in his brother's eyes.

"Takeru?" he asked in concern.

The younger blond blinked slowly. "Maybe you knew each other in past lives," he murmured quietly with a hint of feeling Yamato couldn't quite understand. Then he realized something: Takeru was smirking. He scowled and punched Takeru in the arm.

"Stop kidding around!" he exclaimed, half in humor and half in wonder. Takeru's words brought a strange sort of flash in his mind. And there was a tint of seriousness in Takeru's tone when he spoke. It made Yamato confused and thoughtful at the same time.

"Well, back to my first question, they are nice aren't they?"

Yamato merely nodded. The two had actually been more than nice, especially Hikari. She served him almost like a customer at a restaurant. Then his mind crossed over Taichi. He had been nice, too. Though in the end, he seemed a little distracted when he had said good-bye. Yamato shook his head. Perhaps Taichi always had a short attention span. It certainly seemed like it from the way he first acted: very welcoming, loud, and quick to grow restless.

Takeru glanced at Yamato from the corner of his eye and smiled slightly. It seemed his plan hadn't turned out so badly after all. Yamato was still thinking about Taichi and Hikari—which was good. It gave him hope that something would trigger. And hopefully his hint on "past lives" would give him something to ponder on as well. He frowned slightly. Yamato was smart, he should be able to put the two together and get something. They approached the train station and Takeru couldn't help but sigh. He had used the train enough for that day. Hopefully Koushirou and Ken were doing all right. The sooner they found everyone, the better.

As the train halted to a stop by the platform, Yamato turned to face Takeru, a strange look on his face. "Takeru? It's strange, but I ran into this guy a few days ago after band practice," he said with a distant look in his eyes. Takeru blinked and looked at Yamato sharply.

"Is that so? What happened?" he inquired, trying not to sound too prying. It was odd that Yamato would even be mentioning something so trivial.

_Unless it was one of the Destined._

"I don't know why I'm telling you this; it was just a bump in. I wasn't looking and when I turned a corner, he literally knocked me to the ground and we both fell. When I got up he just brushed past me like nothing happened at all," Yamato explained. "I was a little pissed by that," he added as an afterthought.

Takeru eyed him carefully before pushing his hands into his pockets in disappointment. He was almost sure now that Yamato said that only to get the topic off of Hikari and Taichi. "So how did he look like?" he ventured casually. Yamato was good at complaining.

He shrugged. "He was your average guy, only he had this shoulder length blue hair that seemed a little out of place because he really looked like such a nerd. He was even holding a pile of books for Christ's sake," he replied with a bit of a grin. Takeru merely stared at him, dumbfounded. Yamato arched an eyebrow. "What is it?" he queried in mild suspicion.

Takeru quickly blinked and shook his head, trying in vain to make up an excuse in his head. "Yeah, well…I forgot how much you could complain like a baby," he said with a hint of a smirk. Yamato slapped his arm.

"You should talk!" he exclaimed in mock anger. Takeru laughed but inside, his mind was racing. Yamato had just described to him someone that fitted Jyou exactly.

_And if Yamato crossed with him in Tokyo, then it's likely Jyou will be around there as well. Strange…I would have thought Pathogen would separate all of us far from each other. God, I hope I didn't just jinx it. Please let the others be in Japan as well…_

"Kido Jyou," muttered Takeru under his breath while crossing his arms in thought. Yamato turned his head slightly, but decided to ignore the comment. He was sure it wasn't meant to be heard but he couldn't explain the feeling of warmth that rushed through him when he heard the name and it caused him great confusion.

* * *

TBC


	9. The Noose

**Chapter VIII**

"'You and Koush should be able to break into the defenses easily.' Ha, yeah right," muttered Ken as he stared at the computer screen tiredly. Both he and Koushirou had been working on hacking into the Digital World's defenses for the last three days. During that period of time Takeru hadn't paid any of them a visit to help and Ken found himself growing both worried and aggravated by the whole situation.

Ken turned around and found Koushirou on the floor with his head on the book he was reading an hour ago. They both had decided to take turns at trying to figure out the exact workings of the Digital World's system and Ken had been staring at the computer blankly for the last two hours or so. The screen displayed a series of symbols scrolling down which Ken had just about given up on deciphering. His hands rested on the keyboard and suddenly he was jostled by the phone ringing. Ken looked around and saw that Koushirou was still dead asleep. Sighing, he picked up the phone and answered.

"Hello," he said, deadpanned.

"Ken?"

The dark-haired boy immediately straightened in his seat as he grabbed the phone tightly. "Takeru! Where in the world are you!" he cried out in frustration. Ken heard Takeru sigh on the other line.

"I've been tracking down the other Destined. How are you and Koush doing? I'm assuming you cracked the code," said Takeru calmly.

Ken glared at the phone. "Cracked the code! You must forget, Takeru, that neither of us remembers the Digital World very well. We've just been staring at these bizarre symbols scrolling down the screen for the last three days trying our hardest to even begin to comprehend them! And so far we have nothing!" he practically screamed into the phone. Afterwards Ken panted slightly from all his yelling and gripped himself to calm down as Takeru spoke.

"You haven't…? All right, I'll be there in a sec," replied Takeru tonelessly as the line went dead. Ken stared at the phone dubiously and slammed it down back in its cradle. He sat in the chair and stared at the computer screen angrily. At some points he thought he had seen some familiar symbols, but he couldn't quite figure out where they came from. Sitting silently, Ken wracked his mind for answers before a knock was sounded loudly. He snapped his gaze to the door sharply before slowly walking up to open it.

And as soon as he cracked the door open, a tall figure rushed in, nearly pushing Ken to the floor. Ken looked up and saw Takeru take his place at the desk and begin typing. The dark-haired boy sighed and closed the door. "You could have at least said excuse me," he muttered as he sat down next to the blond. Takeru grunted and typed in several keys.

"Sorry, I was in a hurry. The sooner we open the portal to the Digital World, the better," he quickly explained. Ken arched an eyebrow.

"How did you even get here so—whoa," he remarked as the screen suddenly turned bright blue and the symbols a bright green. Ken stared in awe at the screen and completely forgot his question. "What the hell…?"

Takeru's bright blue eyes shone hypnotically in the light as he remained focused on the screen. Suddenly several symbols made its way to the top of the screen as the rest continued scrolling down at an unreadable pace. Ken stared at the symbols before recognizing one of them as his Crest of Kindness. The other was Koushirou's Crest of Knowledge and Hikari's Crest of Light. There were also two more that looked like a cross and a teardrop. The symbols began scrolling down at lightning speed now yet Takeru seemed to be able to grab other symbols and put them on top. After a few more seconds, Takeru's fingers were flying over the keyboard at an uncontrollable pace and soon the last and final crest joined up with the rest. The screen froze and the rest of the symbols melted away as the crests burned a fiery red that filled the entire room. Ken stared at Takeru in shock.

"Is that…?" he began as Takeru nodded, looking at Ken for the first time since he got there.

"The portal to the Digital World," he finished as he sat back and allowed the light to beam eerily throughout the room. Ken continued to stare at it awe. "We can't go in it yet. I want to have all the Destined here when we enter," he said as he took out the CD from the computer. He gave it to Ken.

"Start it up on your computer at home. Remember those symbols. They are all of the crests of the Destined. To crack it is like playing a game. You have to track each and every single one of them down before the symbol changes to another. As you get more, the rest of the symbols scroll faster as you witnessed before so you have to be careful because if you choose the wrong one you have to start all over again. After you break the sequence, the portal remains on your computer and you can send the disk to Hikari," he explained in a serious tone. Ken nodded understandingly and Koushirou began stirring from his sleep.

He looked up at both of them sleepily and then blinked in alarm as his room was filled with a red glow. Koushirou stood up and stared around his room before his gaze settled on his computer that was emitting the light. He looked at Takeru and Ken weakly.

"What happened?" he asked. Ken grinned widely and Takeru shook his head before patting the redhead's back and gesturing to Ken.

"He'll answer for you," he replied as he headed out the door with a loud slam. Ken stared at the door blankly and then Koushirou.

"Ah…where to begin?" he started as Koushirou stared at him confusedly.

* * *

Hunger in the Digital World didn't come as often as it did in the real world. The first time Daisuke realized that, it was after he hadn't eaten for a week. Then he began feeling the familiar pangs of hunger. This was very fortunate for him considering there weren't many places in the Digital World that had food that was edible for humans. Daisuke did find himself missing the homemade meals his mother used to cook, though. Hell, he even missed the burnt toast Jun made for breakfast. Of course it was odd for someone to be thinking about food but when one was looking at a plateful of green mush that Daisuke didn't dare try to touch, it was inevitable. The rest of the Koromon at the table, however, gobbled up the food. Daisuke watched in disgust as several traces of the green mush was left over at the corners of their mouths and shivered involuntarily. Pushing away his plate, he stood up.

Suddenly his hunger disappeared.

"Where are you going, Dais?" asked Agumon as Daisuke made a move for the door. The boy turned around and smiled.

"I can't watch you guys eat without wanting to puke," he answered with a hint of sarcasm though it was very close to the truth. Agumon merely grinned toothily at him, flashing the green mush in between his teeth.

Daisuke's smile was wiped off his face and was replaced with a scowl before he left the small hut. As soon as he breathed fresh air, Daisuke sighed in relief. The digimon were his friends, but sometimes they were too bizarre for him to deal with. It was times like these that Daisuke really wished Wallace was with him or better yet, he was at home with his family. Never would he take his parents or Jun for granted. The thought saddened him and Daisuke began walking out towards the small field, gazing out at the sky, which was the only thing that was exactly like the one back home.

Daisuke closed his eyes as nostalgia made its way to his mind. He remembered the time when he and the other Destined were lost in the Digital World and they spent a day walking around a large tree that refused to help them. Taichi had been in an especially bad mood and had kicked the tree in anger. In retaliation, the tree lifted one of its branches and whacked Taichi squarely in the head. Daisuke snorted in laughter at the memory before sitting down on the soft grass.

"I wonder if I'll ever see them again."

Sometimes Daisuke wished he had never met the Destined. Then he wouldn't be stuck in the Digital World. But then at times like these, he remembered all the fun he had and the great friends he made and that thought was erased. Then the anger would rush in quickly. He was there when Pathogen erased all memory of the Digital World from his friends' minds. He had managed to escape from his bindings in time but Pathogen had already sent them back to the real world.

Then Takeru had bounded in from nowhere and he and Daisuke tried to fight Pathogen before Takeru had also been sent back, except his memory was still intact. By then Pathogen closed the portal and Daisuke had to run away to save himself. He had thought that Takeru would come back with the others. Daisuke had trusted him. That was why he told Takeru to even go through the portal: to gather the others and bring them back. Daisuke hated himself for that decision. Takeru had not come back and probably never would.

Daisuke clenched his fist and an eerie red glow started forming around it. With a loud cry, he emitted a fireball from the palm of his hand. It hit a tree and instantly started burning. Daisuke cursed to himself and walked over to it and put out the fire with a wave of his hand. Fire had always been his specialty—along with Sora and Taichi. The three of them always led the attacks against Pathogen because they had the most destructive powers.

Daisuke thought to himself for a bit. Jyou was most definitely not one to be ignored, however. The tidal waves he caused were more than enough to drown an entire village. In fact all of the Destined had his or her own special ability that was essential to the team. Yamato was usually teamed up with Jyou because they had a similar power—Yamato's being the control over ice. Koushirou often worked with Miyako and Iori worked with Mimi. Then Ken, Hikari, and Takeru would work together. Out of all of them, though, Takeru was the least experienced with his powers. It was discovered in their very first battle against Pathogen. All of them had a good sense of their powers save Takeru. Most of the times, they had to actually protect him from the danger.

Daisuke stared at the crest in his palm and wondered to himself. Gennai had once said that Hope was supposed to play the most essential part in their team. Takeru never did anything worth admiring over, though. Daisuke smirked. It was probably something Gennai said to make Takeru feel better. The only thing the blond could do was transport them from one place to another, though with great difficulty. This was used rarely because it usually left Takeru pretty exhausted days after. Daisuke shook his head at the memories of having to tend to an unconscious Takeru and frowned. He was once close to Takeru, he remembered. The two never had any heart-to-heart conversations, but they were allies and trusted one another with their lives. Now Daisuke trusted very few people because of Takeru—how ironic.

"Daisuke! What are you doing out here, huh?"

Daisuke nearly jumped up when he heard the sudden call. He turned around hastily and saw V-mon making his way over to him. Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as the digimon leapt onto Daisuke. "V-mon, you dope. Don't scare me like that," he remarked as the blue digimon continued laughing.

"I scared you? But I called you so many times. You were staring at the ground really, really seriously," V-mon explained. Daisuke arched an eyebrow. He would have to stop all this daydreaming. If he couldn't even detect V-mon, then any other digimon would have been able to attack him. Putting on a smile, Daisuke shook his head and began walking back to the Koromon hut.

"Come on. And next time, make a lot of noise when you come over, okay?"

* * *

The first time they ever entered the Digital World was not a very pleasant one. Takeru and the others were at camp and all of them knew each other in some way or the other. It took them a while to realize that they were in the area completely by themselves, though. And then it happened. Koushirou's laptop went haywire and when they all gathered around it to examine it, they were sucked into the Digital World without further details. Takeru couldn't resist a smile in remembrance of their first reaction towards the situation. Everyone was crazy and when they met the digimon, it grew even worse.

Now, as he stared at the portal in Koushirou's computer, he couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia. Takeru had to admit that he didn't expect breaking into the Digital World's territory would be so easy. The Lighthouse usually restricted that and Takeru expected much more difficulty, which meant one thing—the Lighthouse must have been destroyed. It was just a hypothesis, but if it was true, Takeru was very thankful.

"The Digital World…it's been a long time," Ken slowly murmured.

Takeru glanced at him and nodded in agreement. Fortunately, both his and Koushirou's memories had been restored during the last week. Takeru and Hikari literally put them through drills and Hikari even showed them pictures she had of them in the Digital World. She said she had remembered putting them away in the attic after Pathogen brainwashed everyone. Hikari had thought them to be nothing but old buttons but they turned out to be a goldmine of memories.

Yamato and Taichi, on the other hand, had been a bit harder to persuade.

As much as Takeru hated to do it, he had to drug both of them in order to bring them into the Digital World. Yamato had at some point shown some signs of remembering, but the blond was stubborn and refused to believe Takeru. The same went with Taichi and even when Hikari showed them the pictures, they remained steadfast to their opinion. And though Takeru didn't gather as many of them as he wanted to, at least they could begin to start excavating the Digital World and see what happened during the last four years—and find out if Daisuke made it out alive. Takeru narrowed his eyes in anticipation as they prepped up to leave. Soon the portal turned from bright red to an even more eye piercing blue. Takeru looked at Koushirou and Ken, who were both holding onto the sleeping Yamato and Taichi and then at Hikari.

"You ready to be sucked into the Digital World—again?"

The three grinned at him and all of them held grouped around the computer tightly. The surroundings around them soon began draining away as they felt themselves being drawn into the small portal. With a blinding rush, light passed them and after a few moments, they were all found toppled over each other on the ground. Takeru stood up first and helped the others up as he took in the new area around them. He drew a sharp breath. The land was grey and everything was dark and gloomy. There didn't seem to be any sign of life and everything seemed to be covered by a dark mist. The air was brittle and the entire region seemed to bring him down. He eyed it warily before looking at the others.

"We have to leave quick. Somehow we managed to enter one of the darker places of the Digital World," he remarked urgently as he helped Koushirou lift Taichi. The taller boy was beginning to wake and blinked groggily up at Takeru.

"What? Takeru?" he asked, staring at the blond. Takeru looked at him and then at the stirring Yamato. After a few more moments, the two were finally completely alert and both glared dangerously at Takeru.

"Brother, you had better have a good—" Yamato started before halting as he stared at the area around them. "This…this…," he stuttered. Takeru walked up to Taichi and Yamato slowly, a look of dead seriousness in his face.

"Do you believe me now?" he asked before a sudden force hammered down on them, knocking everyone to the ground.

* * *

TBC


	10. Forgotten

**Chapter IX**

Intrusions were never a good thing. They always, _always_ happened when something was going all right. So when Daisuke finally got the chance to sleep properly, of course something had to pop up. He was awakened, naturally, by V-mon and he had to contain himself from punching the digimon out the window. The digimon was nearly frantic and Daisuke had to hold him down in order to get an explanation out of him.

"Something came into the Digital World! It landed near the Dark Plains!"

"Fuck."

Daisuke immediately blanched and went into charge mode as he stood up and headed out of his room to the main computer room where amazingly enough, Wallace was.

"What are you doing here?" asked Daisuke as he went to the computer Wallace was standing by. A whole mass of nervous Koromon were jumping around there and Daisuke had to fight his way in order to analyze the situation.

"Just decided to pop in for a bit. I didn't expect all this, though. What's going on?" replied Wallace, staring at Daisuke critically.

"According to V-mon, we have some intruders in the Dark Plains," he answered as he gazed at the current map of the Digital World. Presently there were a few new bright dots beeping along the Dark Plains, making Daisuke hiss. "This is not good," he muttered under his breath as he thought up some ideas of capturing the intruders. They could have been Pathogen's troops trying to get to him—or they could be lost digimon. But they appeared out of nowhere, though. Daisuke had an ominous feeling about it.

Turning around, he looked at Wallace. "You are staying here. I'm heading out with Aero, V-mon, and Agumon to do some spying. There is a possibility that old slimy sent us some of his troops but hey, it's just a possibility so don't worry," he explained quickly as he headed out of the small hut to see three digimon he was speaking about already prepped up and ready to leave. Daisuke grinned at them and headed towards the dragon digimon.

"Be careful, Dais!"

"Of course!"

Daisuke mounted the dragon digimon and with an enthusiastic call, began flying upwards with Agumon and V-mon perched on his shoulders. Wallace watched from below in mild confusion and amusement before heading back inside to calm down the Koromon.

Meanwhile, up in the sky, Daisuke was busy calculating how much distance they would have to cover and how much time they had. If the intruders were digimon, then most likely Pathogen would go after them as well. Daisuke gritted his teeth at this thought. He would not let Pathogen get his hands on innocent digimon without a fight. But why would any digimon be in the Dark Plains? That region was nothing more but a barren wasteland where numerous digimon in the past died. It was akin to the Wilderness, but more treacherous. Even Daisuke didn't dare try to enter the land for there were the spirits of dead digimon lingering there. The lost data of these digimon compiled there and developed into something greater and more terrifying—codenamed ghosts. Nobody knew why lost data went there, but they just knew it did. Perhaps once the Dark Plains were brighter and more like the rest of the Digital World but now it was a graveyard. Daisuke narrowed his eyes as the mists of the region came into view.

"See anything, Aero?"

"Nothing yet."

Daisuke sighed in frustration as they neared the region. Aero began flying lower until they touched the ground. Daisuke jumped off quickly with V-mon and Agumon following doggedly. Aero remained still for a moment before gliding over to Daisuke mutely. The foursome walked on quietly while scanning the area for any signs of life. Daisuke frowned to himself at the dead silence. Were they too late? Did the ghosts already get to them? Or did Pathogen arrive first? Suddenly his ring of questions was cut off by a yell—from Agumon. Daisuke spun around angrily.

"Agumon! What—?" he began before the fire digimon cut him off.

"Taichi! Taichi!" shouted Agumon joyously as he bounded forward like a hound. Daisuke was left standing in shock with V-mon and Aero looking at him expectantly.

"Taichi?" he murmured again before blinking in realization. He started running after Agumon. If Taichi really was there then… Daisuke couldn't even think about it. He didn't want to put his hopes up too high. But if Agumon kept running like that, he was going to attract the ghosts' attention to them. Daisuke cursed under his breath as he finally caught up with the digimon and grabbed him by the shoulders.

Agumon squirmed in Daisuke's grip but the boy didn't relent. He glared at the lizard digimon dangerously. "Calm down, Agumon. We can't risk the ghosts ganging up on us!" he hissed. Agumon seemed to realize this and calmed down noticeably. Daisuke sighed and looked at V-mon and Aero warily.

"Keep your eyes on the watch. I got a bad feeling about this place," he warned. The two digimon nodded understandingly and V-mon remained quiet, which was very unusual for him.

As they continued trekking down the misty area, Agumon's words kept running through Daisuke's mind over and over. _Taichi! Taichi!_ Could it really be that they had returned? Agumon was usually a stable digimon. He wouldn't just react like that for nothing. Daisuke remained grim, however.

After a few more minutes, Daisuke stopped and turned to his companions. "I think we should head back. There doesn't seem to be anything h—" he started to say before a loud cry in the distance silenced him. Daisuke froze and looked at Aero sternly. "What do you hear?" he asked the digimon, who had the most sensitive hearing out of all of them.

"Humans," he answered quietly.

Daisuke blinked before starting to run off in the direction where the cry was sounded. The digimon hurried after him, half in fear and half in curiosity. The lands and trees seemed to speed by Daisuke in a whirl as he ran towards his destination. There was nothing on his mind except getting to that point. Humans…humans was what Aero said and he never lied. Daisuke kept that in mind as he began to run even faster. When Wallace first came into the Digital World, he had thought it might have been the other Destined, but now… Could it really have been them? It had to be more than a coincidence that Agumon would scream out Taichi's name and Aero identify the cry as humans. Daisuke nearly went into a blind rush now. _It has to be… If it isn't…_ The boy couldn't even think of the possibilities.

When he finally came upon the scene, Daisuke was breathless and ready to collapse from exhaustion. Aero, Agumon, and V-mon joined up with him wordlessly and eyed the picture before them in shock. There was perhaps the largest ghost they had ever seen hovering in the air and below it—a group of humans. Daisuke stared at them in complete astonishment. They were trying to fight off the ghost, which seemed to have a brown-haired girl in its grip. Daisuke stared at the girl harder. _Hikari._ The name made its way into his mind slowly as he stood up. The others were trying to release the ghost's grip on her and the ghost grew furious. It lashed out one of its arms and it passed straight through the blond one's arm, weakening him to a degree. Daisuke slowly began to register each person's face. _Ken, Taichi, Koushirou, Yamato, and…Takeru_. It was as if someone sounded an alarm for Daisuke then bounded forward with the three digimon behind him.

"Aero, you know what to do!" shouted Daisuke at the digimon. The digimon nodded before gathering energy for an attack. Aero's specialty was lightning attacks and he released one particularly powerful one at the ghost. Of course ghosts were nothing but complied old data and the attack had no consequence on it, but it did surprise it into letting go of Hikari.

The ghost eventually dissolved away, leaving the others staring at each other in shock. Hikari was being fussed over by a terrified Taichi and Takeru was clutching onto a bleeding arm, a look of relief on his face. Yamato, Koushirou, and Ken were all laughing at the near death situation they were in before Yamato spotted Daisuke and the three digimon. He stared at them blankly before turning to face Takeru in question. Finally the entire group faced Daisuke and they stared at each other in silence for a while until Hikari stepped forward timidly.

"Daisuke?" she asked. Daisuke looked at Hikari suddenly. His expression remained impassive until slowly a smile made its way to his face.

"Hey," he replied softly. Hikari squealed in happiness as she hugged him. Agumon couldn't hold in his joy anymore as he ran forward and jumped onto Taichi, who stared at the digimon in horrified shock. His memory was still patchy but somehow the digimon brought him a sense of happiness and joy that mystified him.

Finally after a few seconds passed, they all looked at each other again. Hikari was smiling at Daisuke and the others were all grinning as well, save Takeru, who remained still. Daisuke's eyes hardened as they stopped on the blond.

"So…you finally decided to come back, huh?" he asked icily. The atmosphere seemed to lose some of its enthusiasm as Daisuke spoke. Takeru stared back at Daisuke before answering.

"Well, sorry it took so long," he replied in an emotionless tone. Everyone stared at the two in surprise and Hikari, Ken, and Koushirou wore sad expressions for they were the only ones who knew why Daisuke was so angry with Takeru. Daisuke stared hard at Takeru for one last time before turning to the others.

"So! I guess we ought to be heading back. You really did place one hell of a place to land in you know," he exclaimed cheerfully as he placed an arm around Hikari. They began walking away while Yamato lingered by Takeru worriedly.

"Are you all right?" he asked lightly, gazing at Takeru's bleeding arm.

Takeru's grip on it seemed to tighten as he nodded. "Fine," he stated simply as he began following Daisuke's trail. Yamato frowned at Takeru before shaking his head in confusion. Something was definitely wrong between Takeru and Daisuke but he still couldn't figure it out. It aggravated Yamato that he couldn't remember everything but it was returning to him slowly. Maybe then he would get some answers. Sighing, the blond began walking after his brother.

* * *

"I really think you should get this arm checked out by Daisuke," remarked Koushirou worriedly as he watched Takeru's face scrunch up in pain when Yamato wrapped some white gauze around his wound.

The blond merely shook his head and concentrated on not crying out in pain. The wound was strange-looking, yes, with slim, red codes running down the side of his arm from his elbow to the side of left wrist. It still scorched at any touch and Takeru found it difficult to move.

Suddenly the door slammed open, revealing Hikari and Ken followed by a new person with blond hair. Hikari and Ken joined Koushirou on the couch while the stranger remained standing, a smile on his face. Takeru eyed him warily before Daisuke came in just that second.

"Where are the others?" began Daisuke.

Takeru glanced at the others and noticed the uneasy expressions on their faces before sighing. "We weren't able to find them yet," he finally answered, grimacing slightly as Yamato tucked in the last piece.

Daisuke stared hard at Takeru. "So why did you bother coming with only half of you?" he asked shortly, his tone cold. This time it was Hikari who answered.

"We wanted to see how you were and try to get some facts of the situation here. I'm sure we'll find the others easily enough," she said in a rush, trying to avoid any conflict. She had seen the look in Daisuke's eyes when he addressed Takeru, and she did not like it all.

The dark-haired boy frowned slightly before crossing his arms. The stranger beside him seemed to shift slightly and this caused Daisuke to jump. "Oh! This is my friend, Wallace. He's from the real world as well and as far as I can tell, a potential Destined," he introduced, gesturing to the blond.

"Hello, all," greeted Wallace with a grin on his face. Everyone seemed to smile back at the boy's cheerfulness. Daisuke scratched his head before sitting down on a wooden chair reluctantly.

"So…how's everything in the real world?"

"I think it's us who should be asking you questions," remarked Ken quickly. Daisuke looked at him in surprise before smiling slightly. "So what happened here in the last four years, huh? How did you survive? How's Pathogen? How're the digimon?" he asked in a hurry.

Daisuke laughed at Ken's eagerness before placing his hands in front of him. "Whoa, slow down, pal. I can't talk that fast you know," he said, before taking a deep breath. "In the last four years I've basically been hopping all over the Digital World trying to gather what reinforcement I could get and led, unsuccessfully, a campaign against Pathogen. Most of the digimon that are part of that campaign are still around but some have been taken over by Pathogen. After our last fight with him, I basically fled and went back to Gennai's place. Pathogen is still growing stronger every day and soon, all the digimon will be under his control. You guys came pretty much at the right time."

There was a long pause after Daisuke's explanation before Taichi finally spoke up.

"Umm…and how are we involved in this?" he inquired in confusion. Hikari sighed in exasperation while Daisuke looked at him in wonder.

"Don't you remember?"

Taichi continued wearing the same clueless expression as Daisuke stared down at him. "Remember what?"

"Taichi and Yamato haven't quite remembered their pasts yet," cut in Ken before Daisuke could question Taichi any further. The latter looked at him in obvious surprise.

"Are you serious? My God…that is weird," he remarked to himself, his tone curious. He looked at Wallace for a second before sighing. Crossing his arms, Daisuke looked at everyone fiercely. "So you guys managed to break into Pathogen's firewalls, eh? I never would have thought that would happen."

Koushirou grinned and gestured to Takeru. "He was the one who gave us the program that was supposed to lead to the Digital World," he said before looking at Takeru in mystification. "How did you get that thing anyway?"

"I have a good memory," replied Takeru quickly. "But it wouldn't have worked anyway unless…," he wondered aloud as he looked at Daisuke quickly. The dark-haired boy nodded slightly.

"Me and a few of the other digimon took down the Lighthouse a few weeks ago. We pissed off Pathogen quite a bit and nearly got deleted for it if it hadn't been for Aero's quick flying," he replied, smiling slightly at the digimon's name.

Takeru nodded slowly and thought to himself. _Aero…_ He had been the one who found the rookie digimon in a lying heap of ruins. Back then Aero was still quiet but a lot smaller and showed much potential for flying. Aero was also very attached to Takeru and the blond smiled slightly at the memory. That white and silver dragon he saw before with Daisuke must have been Aero—he had changed quite a bit.

"So Wallace? How did you get here if the Lighthouse was still blocking off any outside invaders?" Ken inquired.

The blond looked slightly taken back by the question but smiled nonetheless. "Err…through some empty warehouse where a woman was proclaiming the arrival of Armageddon. To this day I still don't know how I managed to get through the defenses of Pathogen's system, but I did. When I met up with Daisuke, he brought me to Gennai who dubbed me a 'potential Destined,'" he explained.

Everyone nodded slightly in wonder while Yamato and Taichi looked even more than confused. They just stood and agreed with whatever Wallace and the others said, though to them it made a very faint sense, as if they had heard it all somewhere before but just couldn't quite note where. Hikari was cheered up by Wallace's presence. He was very light spoken and upbeat—something that reminded her of…Takeru's former self before all of this. She eyed him carefully and thought sadly of what had changed in him.

"Well, I guess you guys are going to stay over tonight, eh?" remarked Daisuke as he leaned back against his seat comfortably. "I don't mind since we have a lot of room. And it'll also give us a chance to catch up on old times," he added with a grin.

Hikari grinned back and glanced at Ken and Koushirou for a second, who nodded back at her with secret smiles.

"Sorry, we can't join you, Dais. We got a lead on where Jyou, Miyako, and Iori are and Hikari, Koush, and I want to investigate on it. But we can join you tomorrow maybe," Ken said slowly, as if still pondering whether or not what he said was right. Takeru looked at him in surprise, but the dark-haired youth ignored his stare. This had been something they had planned for quite a while now.

Daisuke looked at Ken dubiously before frowning to himself. "All right then…so it'll be me, Wallace, Taichi, Yamato, and…Takeru," he murmured. Ken smiled.

"Yeah, maybe you and Takeru could help jog up Taichi and Yamato's memories, eh?" he suggested as casually as he could.

Most likely Takeru had figured out their agenda by now and Ken prayed the blond wouldn't be mad. They all had known that things between Daisuke and Takeru would be a bit fragile considering what had happened. Though their memories were erased, Takeru escaped with it intact. Daisuke had somehow remained in the Digital World for some unknown reason, probably out of an effort to bring Takeru to the real world and it had took the blond four years to come back. Daisuke must have told Takeru to come for them, Ken guessed. But Takeru didn't give any explanation as to why he remained almost obsolete for the past four years. And if they were confused, Daisuke must have been more than furious with the blond. This was Ken's theory, as well as everyone else's. But there were still gaps waiting to be filled in by Takeru.

Daisuke shifted in his chair and looked at Takeru's direction. "Great," he said darkly. Ken laughed nervously and turned around to face the blond.

"So we're going to be heading back now, okay? We'll see you tomorrow most likely…or even the next day. I don't know how long it'll take to convince the other guys to come with us," he said.

Takeru's eyes remained fixated on the wall behind Ken as he nodded faintly. The dark-haired boy frowned slightly at this and was about to say something before Hikari and Koushirou came up behind him, pulling his arm towards the door.

"Then we'll see you guys soon and with us shall come the rest of the Destined! Have no fear!" Hikari exclaimed in a mock Taichi imitation. The older man seemed to realize this and glared at his sister angrily before she and the rest headed out the door.

Again there was a long pause before Yamato spoke.

"So…where are we again?"

"This is going to be a long night," Daisuke muttered to himself as Takeru silently agreed.

* * *

TBC


	11. The Fragile

**Chapter X**

The room was dimly lit, casting shadows all over the people's faces. Notably, the faces were also all buried in some textbook or another, making them all look like they were under some sort of spell. With the flickering fluorescent lights, it was also easy to impair your vision in this room. And to Kido Jyou, this was not a good thing for his vision was already impaired enough. Amongst his fellow classmates, though, he felt quite out of place with his piles of books and papers around him. Groaning to himself, Jyou flicked a strand of hair out of his eyes before closing one of his books. This was all useless really. Finals were coming up in two days—what was the point of all this studying? If he read one more word, he was going to puke. Standing up, the tall man gathered his books and quickly left the monstrosity of a library.

Once outside, Jyou breathed in the cool air around him in relief. He really was starting to slack off, he noticed. A few months ago he would have studied down to the point where it was a few minutes before the test. Now he was giving up two days beforehand—_two_ days! Shin would be proud of him, he thought to himself as he crossed the street.

Jyou continued smiling to himself as he walked down the street. Then, as he turned the corner, he found himself wondering about the incident that had happened more than a week before—the day he crashed into that blond fellow. Ever since then, he had been reminded of that boy whenever he turned this particular corner. Jyou couldn't quite understand why, but he _knew_ that man! That face and blue eyes were haunting him forever. And that name…Yamato. It had just come out of nowhere. As far as Jyou could remember, he never knew any Yamato…or did he? Once again, Jyou found himself thinking over his life. There wasn't any Yamato he could recall and the blond also didn't seem to recognize Jyou as well. Maybe he was just hallucinating. His imagination must have just created that name.

But why couldn't he forget him?

"Gah!"

Perhaps it was because he thinking too hard to notice, but somehow Jyou managed to find himself sprawled out on the ground feeling quite dazed. A hand was then offered before his eyes and he took it gratefully and stood up before adjusting his heavy shoulder bag. But before he could even look at the face of the stranger, he spoke.

"Jyou?"

At this, the blue-haired man looked up in surprise to find a shorter dark-haired boy staring up at him in wonder. Somehow the boy's face and eyes looked familiar to Jyou as he cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked. The boy jumped slightly before grinning slowly. It scared Jyou somewhat and he continued staring at him confoundedly. Purple eyes and purple hair…now where in the world had he seen that before?

"Come with me," the boy ordered lightly as he once again offered his hand to Jyou. The latter looked at him dubiously and the boy sighed in exasperation before standing straighter. "My name's Ichijouji Ken. And you're Kido Jyou, am I correct?" he stated firmly.

Jyou nodded absentmindedly. Why was it that he felt like he was meeting the strangest people lately? First it was the blond-haired man and now this one…they all seemed so familiar to him…but why? He frowned to himself and looked at this Ken critically. He seemed nice enough, though a little hurried. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to see where all this would lead up to.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked softly. His question must have surprised him for Ken blinked up at him a few times before recovering.

"To—"

"Ken!"

The boy was cut off by a new voice and he whipped around to greet the person. Jyou followed Ken's gaze to see a petite, shorthaired girl with a redheaded man running towards their direction. He watched as Ken waved to them and called them over. Faintly, Jyou prayed he wasn't making a mistake by doing this. What if these guys were a bunch of hoodlums waiting to rob him? But then again, how did this Ken know his name? He didn't think a bunch of gangsters would waste their time getting to know one particular person.

"Ken! You found him?" the girl greeted once she came up to Ken. The latter nodded, a smile on his face as he turned to greet the redhead. "We sort of crashed into each other. Would you believe my luck? Did you track down Iori and Miyako?" he inquired with a grin.

"Oh yeah. Would you believe that they went to the same school? So we got double the prize," the redhead answered coolly. The girl nodded in agreement as his side. "We managed to get their numbers and they agreed to meet up with us later to discuss our 'secret past,'" he added.

Ken nodded before turning to face Jyou again. The man merely stared at the three in slight shock. Somehow once he heard all of them speaking at once about this girl named Miyako and a boy named Iori, more names popped into his mind. Hikari and Koushirou… It was strange, yet Jyou somehow felt that he knew all of them as well. Absentmindedly, he raised his right hand and glanced at his palm. He traced with his eyes a barely visible symbol and blinked in surprise. That mark had appeared there ever since his first collision with the man his mind dubbed Yamato. Then at night he began having strange dreams that involved even stranger looking creatures and a whole group of twelve, him included, fighting some dark force. During the day he even began sketching out pictures of the people, though their faces were always blank—he could never see them. But now as he looked at these people before him, three of those blank faces he drew became complete.

"You're…Hikari and Koushirou," he found himself saying. This took them all back before the girl stepped forward boldly.

"Jyou…do you remember us? Do you remember the Digital World and the Crest of Faith?" she inquired gently, her eyes shining brightly. Jyou stared back at her in mild surprise. Again this was bringing him back to some sort of sick parody of the Twilight Zone. His mind was swirling.

Taking a deep breath, Jyou looked at his palm again. Faith…Digital World… This was related to him somehow. Looking at the three strangers, he narrowed his eyes. _They_ were all related to him somehow. Then, as if someone had just opened the door to a forbidden lab, memories flooded into his mind. Names such as Taichi and Sora flew all around as well as their faces. It was like trying to remember a dream, Jyou noted distantly. The mysterious creatures he saw in his dreams…they were digimon! Frowning, Jyou massaged his head. All of this was beginning to give him a migraine.

"Jyou…?"

The blue-haired man looked at the girl and saw her staring at him hopefully. Smiling faintly, he remembered. It was odd…he somehow managed to block out memories of the Digital World for four years. All those dreams…he had thought they were just some reoccurring nightmare. Now he realized what they were. In reality, he never did actually forget the Digital World. They were just stored deep in his mind somewhere, waiting for a trigger. And these people in front of him had been it.

Sighing, he shifted his bag lightly. "Gathering up for a reunion, are you?" he asked casually, grinning at the surprised looks on his friends' faces. Looking at Hikari on a more serious note, he added, "When do we go back?"

Hikari looked slightly stunned before glancing at Ken and Koushirou happily. "When we find Sora and Mimi," she replied shortly. Jyou nodded faintly and thought to himself.

"So you've found the rest? And Daisuke?" he asked, looking intently at them. All three of them nodded in unison and he sighed in relief. "Well, that's good."

"But Yamato and Taichi still don't remember really. They're in the Digital World right now as a matter of fact with Takeru and Daisuke, who are supposed to be trying to jog up their memories. We came back to look for the rest of you guys and as you heard before, we found Miyako and Iori but we still haven't a clue on where Sora and Mimi are," Koushirou added informatively.

Jyou frowned slightly at this and looked at them firmly. "Then let's go find them. How about you deal with Miyako and Iori? I'll try and check out on Sora and Mimi's location," he suggested. Koushirou looked at him questionably.

"You think you know where they are?"

The blue-haired man smiled faintly. "Yeah, I think so. But let me drop off my books first."

* * *

"Fuck you, Takeru."

The blond froze at the comment before turning around to face Daisuke inquiringly. The dark-haired boy stared at him for a long moment before turning his gaze elsewhere. The room's atmosphere was thick with tension. Yamato and Taichi stared at the two in confusion while Wallace looked torn between amusement and exasperation on Daisuke's behalf.

Sighing, Wallace stepped between the two with his arms raised in peace. "Come on, you guys. We're trying to help Yamato and Taichi to remember, not to bring back old grudges," he said bracingly.

Daisuke snorted and whipped around. "Old grudges! Trust me, Wallace, it's _way_ more than a _grudge_," he snapped back while glaring at Takeru.

The sight of the blond infuriated him. How could Takeru stand there looking so calm after not seeing each other for four years? Takeru was the one who broke his trust and he didn't even murmur an apology. Daisuke clenched his fist and resisted from letting out a loose fireball. No matter what he would not give into violence.

Takeru hadn't even bothered to look at Daisuke for he knew if he did, he probably would have exploded in rage. Instead, he clutched onto his left arm painfully. He half-wondered whether he should even mention it to the others but the other half of his mind decided against it. The physical pain was nothing compared to the pain he felt when Daisuke's words struck him. Eyes flaming in anger and accusation and his tone as cold as steel—Takeru found it hard to keep cool under the pressure when all he wanted to do was break down. It had been a while since he felt so human. And it hurt him.

"Is everything cool now?"

Bless Taichi. Takeru turned to face him and nodded slightly. The older man looked slightly perturbed but was reassured by Takeru's gesture. In all truth, Takeru felt guilty for putting the two through the drill. They were probably confused as hell with what was going on and Daisuke most certainly was not a patient person. It had been one hour and all they managed to explain was the history of the Digital World and the Destined. They hadn't even touched upon their own connection with the Digital World.

It was going to be a _very_ long night.

Takeru sighed lightly and forced his mind to forget Daisuke and focused instead on trying to jog up Yamato and Taichi's memories. "Well, does anything we've said so far ring a bell?" he asked softly, stirring the two from their seats. Yamato stared at him for a long while before answering.

"It all seems to make sense in some weird way. I remember something about…crests?" he said unsurely, arching his eyebrow at the last part. Takeru smiled slightly and nodded. At least Yamato was over his denial in the whole situation actually happening.

"Yes, we all have crests. The original eight, being you, Taichi, Jyou, Koushirou, Mimi, Sora, Hikari, and I each have our own crests. Ken, who joined up with us later, has his own as well. Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori would be, I suppose, your successors. Taichi is Courage, you are Friendship, Jyou is Faith, Mimi is Purity, Koushirou is Knowledge, Sora is Love, Hikari is Light, Ken is Kindness, and I…am Hope. Daisuke would be the successor to Courage and Friendship, Miyako to Love and Purity, and Iori to Knowledge and Faith," began Takeru slowly, pausing very briefly when he said Daisuke's name. Even saying the boy's name was painful. And Daisuke didn't say a single word throughout his explanation.

"Each crest has its own symbol which appear on your right palm," continued Takeru, showing his palm and the light faded mark of Hope on it. "Yours and Taichi's aren't there because…well…you don't remember everything yet. Once you do, it'll appear very faintly. The only time the crest really ever shines is in the moon's light or whenever you call upon your powers, which is yet something else I must discuss."

Takeru stopped for a moment and sat down. Explaining everything was going to take a while and Daisuke didn't seem to want to help anymore. That and his arm was beginning to throb most painfully, almost as if there was a heart in there ready to come out. The bandages felt like constraints and Takeru just wanted to rip them off. Noticeably, the room seemed to have gotten darker in his eyes and a little foggy. Shaking his head, Takeru tried to regain his composure and looked at Daisuke.

"You want to fill in for me? I have to use the bathroom," he murmured quietly, trying to keep all emotions out of his voice. Daisuke barely glanced at him before carrying on where Takeru stopped and was explaining their powers.

"Taichi, you have the ability to create and manipulate fire as does Sora and me. Yamato, your power is over ice. Jyou's was over water, Iori over earth, Koush over lightning, Mimi over plants, and Miyako over wind. Now Ken's ability was to block every known physical attack and Hikari's was like a sort of exorcism. She could drive out the evil in people and digimon. Oh, and Takeru's is…well, we really don't know because he never showed much signs of having anything special besides teleportation…"

Takeru flinched at the roughness in Daisuke's voice when he spoke of him. The blond left the room quietly and entered the small hallway to find the excruciatingly small bathroom and sat down on the toilet inside. Placing his head in his right hand, Takeru thought for a moment. Daisuke spoke of him so condescendingly. It was harsh and hurtful but Takeru knew it was partially his fault. In fact, Daisuke was handling it quite well considering the situation. Takeru was supposed to come back for him, which he did, after four years and without any reason or explanation whatsoever. In fact he knew he had to give everyone an explanation soon. The hard part was how was he going to do it without breaking his own mind in the process? It took him so long to finally ignore everything around him in the ward and to focus on getting out. The memories he had were something he did not want to get reacquainted with. But it was the only way.

"Fuck."

The one word fell short in the stuffed room as Takeru shifted his left arm accidentally. The pain was unbearable and the blond soon found himself clutching onto it tightly and shutting his eyes. Hisses came from his mouth unknowingly and Takeru did all he could from screaming out. Koushirou was right. He should have gotten it checked by Daisuke earlier. But knowing him, he'd probably only want to make it worse. Takeru closed his mind on that thought. No, Daisuke may have been mad with him, but he wasn't an indecent person. Daisuke would have helped him with his arm.

Suddenly the room seemed to spin and this time Takeru really did tear his bandages off. The marks on his arm were a searing red and almost seemed to be glowing as new blood poured free. Takeru stared at it in shock before another wave of pain hit him. It was coming directly from his arm and nowhere else but the pain made him feel like someone was pulling his arm out of its socket slowly and painstakingly. And the codes were now burning a fury red. Takeru collapsed to the floor while holding his arm in horror and pain.

"God, help me…," he muttered lowly. His voice was nowhere to be found and he was soon sprawled on the floor and writhing around in pain as the fogginess crept around him. He wanted to scream. But it was like something was holding him back. Tears fell from his eyes and hit the ground silently.

Then the burning doubled. Takeru was no longer holding his arm and was now lying flat on his back with his face to the ceiling. His eyes were closed shut and his left arm lay limply beside him, almost normal looking if not for the unnatural glow around it. A low growl came from deep inside Takeru's throat, longing to be released until suddenly, the wall was broken. Whatever limitations there were to hold Takeru back was now gone and the scream that issued forth from him was unlike anything he ever heard before. And now that he was free to scream, he felt as if he couldn't stop until he was soon panting for air. The cry diminished slowly and Takeru faintly heard poundings on the door. But Takeru couldn't move. He couldn't cry. He couldn't see. Just then, strong arms wrapped their way around him and Takeru could feel the warmth around him, soothing him the very slightest.

"…Takeru…"

The blond could barely register the words. All he heard was his name and someone familiar…very familiar. Clouded images popped around him and he was able to make out a dark figure holding him with burgundy hair. Daisuke. Takeru could have laughed at the irony of the situation but he couldn't speak. All control he had over his body was long gone now and his vision was beginning to blur messily again. Takeru decided not to fight it anymore and allowed himself to close his eyes and give into the burning sensation.

* * *

TBC


	12. Sensei Returns

**Chapter XI**

"Well, it's official. I _have_ gone insane."

Hikari shook her head at the purple-haired girl beside her. "Miyako," she began before being cut off by a loud shush. Hikari shut her mouth and watched in silent amusement as Miyako rubbed her temples in obvious frustration. "Now that we're here, is it really that hard to believe?"

Miyako opened one eye to stare Hikari down. "I guess I have to, don't I!" she snapped annoyingly. Hikari smiled to herself and winked at Koushirou. It was normal for Miyako to act so stubborn and angry—it was her way of acknowledging something she didn't want to. Her acceptance was pretty much forged out of the sheer fact that they were standing amidst the Digital World itself and not even a computer genius like Miyako could figure out an explanation for the occurrence.

"I don't get it, though. Jyou remembered everything pretty easily. Why is it that we can't remember so quickly?" sounded Sora aloud. Everyone looked at the fiery girl in surprise but the surprise was more in effect of her question and the fact that she even asked it when no one else really gave it much thought.

Jyou faced her and shrugged casually. "I really don't know. But I think it has something to do with our crests. In any case, I don't think it's of much concern," he replied lightly. Sora eyed him thoughtfully before crossing her arms.

The entire group was made up of them eight—Jyou, Hikari, Koushirou, Ken, Iori, Miyako, Sora, and Mimi. Through all hell and turmoil, Koushirou had managed to track down Miyako, Sora, and Iori in Japan while Mimi was found in New York of all places. The trip to New York had been a difficult one to plan considering the fact that it was very hard to convince Mimi that they were indeed good people and to download a program and open it on her computer. The program, of course, had been a gateway to the Digital World but could also used for their traveling convenience. The girl nearly had heart attack when she saw seven people emerge from her laptop. And she was almost reduced to a faint when they entered the Digital World. Luckily, her nerves were steadier now than they were in the past and she managed to stay conscious.

After nearly an hour of sitting by a peaceful field in the Digital World and discussing events of their "forgotten history" they were finally beginning to grudgingly agree with the facts Jyou gave them. Out of the four, Miyako proved to be the most stubborn but Mimi was very close after. Only Sora seemed to take in the information quietly and critically without any questioning. Miyako and Mimi had done quite enough of that. And all Iori did was stare at the surroundings, not seemingly paying any attention to what Jyou said.

"So you say the others are here now?" inquired Sora.

Jyou nodded and crossed his legs over the soft grass. "Yeah. I suppose we ought to meet up with them soon. We've been gone for two days now tracking you guys down," he said, looking at his watch. "I really didn't think it would take so long to find you."

As if on cue, everyone stood up, even the reluctant Mimi. "Let's go then!" she exclaimed in a would-be enthusiastic tone except for the intimidation in her eyes. Hikari put an arm around her reassuringly as they began walking on in silence. Koushirou and Ken murmured amongst themselves in the corner with Iori lingering a few paces away while the girls began having their own discussion. Jyou remained in the front and resumed his quiet disposition.

"Umm…what is that thing?"

Instantly everyone looked up to see what Mimi was talking about and was greeted by the sight of what appeared to be a pinkish ball heading towards them. After a few moments, Jyou exclaimed loudly, "Piximon!"

Hikari and Koushirou brightened considerably while Ken shot Jyou an inquiring look. "Who's Piximon?" he asked just as the digimon approached them.

"I am the one that trained the original Destined, yup! And now it is your turn!" the digimon answered in a bright tone, his eyes glowing. Ken stared at the fluttering digimon in mild surprise before turning to Hikari.

"Are you serious?"

Hikari laughed and shrugged. "We can only assume," she replied lightly just as Piximon threw a sharp look at Ken.

"Who is this scrawny boy? I don't remember ever seeing him before!" he exclaimed loudly before looking at Jyou suddenly. "Ah! Now there's a face I remember! Where are the others, Jyou?"

Jyou look startled for a second before recovering himself to answer Piximon's question. "They're around here…with Daisuke I think."

Piximon flew a few feet higher in his surprise. "Daisuke? Now I am confused. When did you all come back?" he demanded forcefully. "You all disappeared four years ago and _boom!_ You're all here again! Do you know how hard it is to deal with a stubborn little Destined like Daisuke for _four_ years? Now I understand all your memories were erased when you went back to the real world but where is Takeru? I know he at least escaped all right."

The rest look rather perturbed and stunned as to what to say. Finally, Hikari took the liberty to answer Piximon's questions.

"We all came back a few days ago. Takeru is here as well—with Daisuke. Last we saw them they were going to attempt to jog up Taichi and Yamato's memories. That was two days ago, though, and we went back to the real world to look for Jyou, Miyako, Iori, Sora, and Mimi," she said, gesturing to the everyone. "Obviously we found them and now we're meeting up with Takeru again."

Piximon studied her carefully. "Wait, so how is it that you remember?"

Hikari sighed and shook her head. "It's all too long of a story to tell right now. I think we should meet up with Takeru fist. He might be able to tell you everything because I'm still unsure of all the details," she replied.

The small digimon blinked several times before flying a few feet ahead of them. "Well, come on then! I sense trouble at Daisuke's hideout," he remarked mysteriously yet with a tone of urgency. "I was heading there myself when I felt all of you here."

Hikari looked distraught. "Trouble? Do you think any of them are hurt?" she queried in alarm as they began to walk in a quick pace. The rest of the group followed behind silently as they awaited Piximon's reply. But the digimon remained quiet and did not look back at Hikari or the others. The Child of Light began to worry. "Piximon?"

"I am not sure of it but, yes, I think someone is hurt and very badly. I sense great pain."

"Takeru."

"What?"

Piximon turned around immediately but resumed in his flight as he cast a long gaze on Ken. The dark-haired boy blinked several times. "Before we left Takeru was hurt. We were heading towards Daisuke's place when we entered the Dark Plains and were attacked by ghosts," he said, pausing as Piximon hissed loudly. "One passed through Takeru's arm and it began bleeding pretty badly," he finished, staring at Piximon seriously.

The red digimon closed his eyes thoughtfully for a moment and turned around again. "Takeru's arm will never heal," he finally remarked after a long break. Ken looked alarmed and even Sora, Mimi, Miyako, and Iori appeared concerned. Piximon turned to face Ken again. "That is a ghost's only attack. Takeru's arm right now is probably causing him great suffering and there is no cure for a ghost's poison. Eventually it will immobilize his entire arm until he will never be able to use it again."

"My God," muttered Jyou as he shook his head in obvious horror. He stared at Piximon's back. "There has to be something we can do to help him," he suggested worriedly.

"He could overcome the poison," Piximon stated mysteriously, "but no one has ever accomplished that feat."

Jyou and the others listened apprehensively and sighed deeply at Piximon's words. The walk continued on in silence. The road they had taken was uneven and through a seemingly endless forest. Trees of all kinds stood around them and there was no sign of life anywhere. The only sound heard was their feet as they scampered along the area and the soft fluttering of Piximon's wings. It created an uneasy feeling among the Destined and they all walked clustered together without a single word exchanged. The scenery changed gradually as they trekked on until the suffocating trees cleared out to a wide field where a few tall trees stood scattered about. The air was fresher and the group felt their hearts lighten considerably.

"Ah, here we are!"

A small village filled with small huts up to their shoulders appeared before them. The sound of voices was heard and the group paused briefly at the entrance to take in the sight. A dozen or so Koromon were rushing about through the village and none stopped to greet them. Piximon's gaze on them hardened and then switched onto another hut, this one much larger than the rest. He blinked once and began flying towards it, gesturing for the others to follow.

"This is where Daisuke lives along with the rest of the digimon. The only reason Pathogen hasn't been able to get his hands on this village is because of its remote location and the fact that they are protected by the Wilderness and the forest we just went through," he explained thoroughly.

Iori arched an eyebrow. "But we weren't attacked," he pointed out. Piximon turned to him and winked.

"That's because the digimon sensed you were with _me_!" he exclaimed boastfully, throwing out his chest for extra show. The rest of the group shared exasperated looks.

"I think I'm beginning to remember some of this stuff," murmured Sora suddenly.

Hikari grinned. "That's good. I would hope hanging out with all these digimon would spur something to pop up," she remarked brightly.

They all walked until they reached the entrance of the large hut and stared at the door dubiously. The Koromon continued rushing around them and still hadn't acknowledged their presence. Piximon fluttered near Jyou and stared at the blue-haired man scornfully.

"Well, aren't you going to open the door? We haven't got all day!" he snapped. Jyou jumped and reached for the door instantly before pausing to stare at Piximon confusedly.

"Why didn't you just open it?" he inquired.

"Well now that your hand is on the handle you might as well do it."

"Uh…"

Jyou looked torn between amusement and exasperation before finally turning the handle. The door swung open creakily and the rest of the Destined stared at the darkness before them worriedly.

Miyako cleared her throat. "You _are_ sure this is the right place?" she inquired as casually as she could muster. Inside, she was trembling with absolute fright. Koushirou shot her a reassuring glance.

"Yes, don't worry. I'm sure Dais—"

"Where the fuck were you?" a new voice interjected loudly.

The entire group turned to see a seething Daisuke before them. Mimi jumped slightly and cowered behind Jyou fearfully. The blue-haired man sighed and looked at Daisuke. "Sorry we took so long," he began before Daisuke turned his sharp gaze on him. Instantly, it melted into one of surprise and then happiness.

"Jyou!" exclaimed Daisuke before hugging the older man. Then he turned to see Miyako, Sora, Mimi, and Iori staring at him like he was insane. Daisuke didn't even seem to notice as he hugged all four of them at once. He then pulled away to grin widely at Miyako. "Never thought I'd be glad to see you again!"

Miyako stared at him dumbly before Piximon cut in.

"How is Takeru?" he prompted.

Daisuke's expression turned serious as he looked at Piximon. "It's good you came. He collapsed two days ago. He's all right now I suppose but his arm won't stop bleeding and he's getting weaker by the day," he answered as he ushered them all inside.

Closing the door, Daisuke began heading towards the main room and the others followed. "We've bandaged his arm up as well as we could but blood just seems to seep straight through it and we have to keep changing them. At this rate, he's going to use up all our medical supplies," Daisuke remarked as they entered a small round room where a long couch was pushed up against the wall. One bright bulb lighted up the room and two mini windows stood by the left side. Overall the room gave a sense of dread and secrecy and on the long couch, a figure covered in a thin blanket could be seen.

"Takeru?" asked Ken quietly. Daisuke nodded and the figure stirred slightly and sat up slowly, revealing a very bedraggled blond staring at them with wide eyes. Ken and Hikari rushed forward. "Hey, how you feeling?" inquired Ken while Hikari placed a hand on Takeru's shoulder.

Takeru blinked several times before turning his gaze to Piximon. "Can you help?" he asked, completely ignoring Ken and Hikari's gestures. The digimon looked surprised for a moment before covering it up.

"There is no cure for a ghost's poison, Takeru. Your arm will cease to move soon. You could either keep it or just amputate it seeing as how it won't be of any use to you," answered Piximon coldly, yet a strange glimmer remained in his eyes. The others all threw scathing looks at the digimon's lack of sympathy. Takeru narrowed his eyes slightly and scrutinized Piximon.

"You're not telling me something but I can assume what it is," he said suddenly before closing his eyes and leaning back against the couch tiredly. Piximon stared at Takeru coolly, but a spark of light was seen in his eyes at the blond's words.

The others remained positively still and unsure of what to do.

"Um…whoa, where did all of you come from?"

Everyone looked up to see Taichi and Yamato suddenly emerge from out of nowhere and into the room, looking quite baffled at the audience before them. Daisuke sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"There is no room for all you guys here. Everyone out!" he ordered suddenly as he raised an arm pointing to the exit. Everyone stared at him in shock and Daisuke only began to tremble in suppressed annoyance before Piximon finally took command.

"You heard him, people! Out, out, out! Everything will be explained by him outside!"

The entire crew of Destined marched out unsurely, all casting each other strange looks considering each one was trying to register another's face. Ken and Hikari lingered by Takeru's side for a bit before heading out with the rest. Once outside, the crew stood facing Daisuke and Piximon.

The dark-haired boy sighed and placed his hand over his face in frustration before lowering it to look at the rest. "I'm really glad to see you all, honestly. It's just that…I really hate explaining things and I am fucking exhausted from having to deal with blondie in there whose arm is like a bleeding Niagara Falls. If you have any questions please save them for tomorrow, okay? I really want to just sack out for a while."

A pause ensued before Taichi cleared his throat. "Yeah, I think we can do that," he said. "But…um…where the hell do we stay?"

Daisuke groaned loudly and hit his head with his hand. "Yeah, um…I forgot about that. Okay…a group this big…arrg…," he muttered before looking up at the sky. "Aero! Aero, get down here right now!"

The group stared at Daisuke in shock before a swoop of air caught them off guard. A long, silver dragon glided down amongst them quietly and remained floating beside Daisuke. Both Mimi and Miyako screamed and hugged each other tightly. Daisuke shot them an amused look.

"It's all right. He's safe," he reassured before turning to the dragon. "Aero, you know if Leomon has any space at his place?" he inquired. The dragon blinked and shook his head slowly. Daisuke cursed to himself.

"You can all come to my place!"

Daisuke snapped his head up and looked at Piximon in surprise. "_Your_ place? Piximon, I wouldn't go to your place if my life depended on it," he shot back suspiciously. The red digimon laughed merrily and tapped his shoulder with his staff.

"I have been waiting for the day you all would come back to the Digital World. Now I can start training you!" he exclaimed joyously. The others stared at him strangely and Daisuke glared at the digimon.

"_Training_? What training? You never _trained_ us before when we first met you!" he accused harshly but Piximon didn't seem fazed at all by his comment. The red digimon just continued laughing and twirling his staff.

"Well, you never needed it considering all our enemies before were weak. I was about to begin training you all when Pathogen showed up, remember? But then you just rushed into battle with all the confidence in the world and then the next thing I knew, you were all sent back to the real world save Daisuke!" he explained before taking his staff and flying higher into the air. He used the staff and shaped an invisible circle in the air before lowering it. The circle appeared in a bright blue outline before opening up to a green portal that seemed to rip straight through the fabric of time and space. Piximon twirled his staff like a baton again and waved to them. "Come now through the portal! Your training will begin very soon after!"

The others stared at the portal in amazement before Yamato finally ripped his gaze to face Piximon. "What about Takeru?" he asked quietly. Piximon laughed again and _crack_, the blond appeared in Yamato's arms. Yamato stared at Takeru in surprise before Piximon pulled on his arm.

"Go on now! Go through!" he goaded as he pushed a stunned Yamato through the portal with Takeru in his grip. The rest watched in silence as the green engulfed them. Koushirou looked at Piximon uncertainly.

"Is this safe—?" he started before Piximon suddenly raised all of them with his staff. They all hovered in the air in shock as the red digimon laughed. He turned to face the Koromon that had finally noticed them.

"Don't worry, my friends! They will be back before you know it!" he shouted before making them all go through the portal despite the protests. Piximon bowed once to the applauding Koromon and headed into the portal straight after. With a loud crack, the portal disappeared and the Koromon resumed in their daily work.

* * *

TBC


	13. Enter Paradise And Hell

**Chapter XII**

"Someone remind me to kill Piximon," groaned Daisuke as he sat up wearily from the ground. He eyed everyone else sprawled around him as they also attempted to recover themselves.

"Forget you, Dais, I want my own hands on him," Ken remarked as he stood up, dusting himself off. A look of frustration painted his face as he looked around them. "Where are we anyway…?" he asked before freezing. On one side of the plain they were currently on, everything was dusty and dull, but that was not what caught his attention. It was what was on the other side of the plain that took him over.

Everything was in an array of soft colors ranging from blue to green. Tall, gleaming grass stood up from the ground and swayed gently in the teasing breeze and the sky there was blue and utterly cloudless. In the midst of it all, Ken could spot a wooden mansion at the horizon—a long way from where they were. Looking at the ground below him, Ken noticed that the land was literally split in two by some sort of invisible line. The paradise was on one side and the desert on the other and he and the rest of the Destined were standing right in between the two.

Ken looked at the others. "So…where is Piximon?"

A low murmur began amongst them as they turned in all directions to see some sort of sign of the red digimon. Daisuke moaned in despair before a yelp from Yamato got his attention.

"Where's Takeru?" Yamato cried out, looking around in worry. "I was carrying him when we entered that portal and now he's gone!" he exclaimed.

Everyone remained silent for a moment and left Yamato to himself until Jyou walked over and placed a reassuring arm around the blond's shoulders. Daisuke smiled faintly at this before facing the others. "I think most likely Piximon brought him to his house," he said, waving to the wooden mansion at the horizon. "And I think Piximon would want us to go there as well," he finished.

There was more silence as everyone pondered his words before Miyako spoke up. "Um…I'm still a little unsure about this whole 'Destined' thing but I get the feeling going to that house is going to be harder than it looks." Daisuke regarded her carefully before nodding in agreement.

"I never said it wasn't," he pointed out with a smirk, "but Piximon's got this crazy idea of training us in preparation against Pathogen and shit." A look of amusement was on his face but everyone else found what he said quite disturbing.

"Training? Hold on, I remember Piximon saying that right before he launched us here! You never said we had to do any _training_!" exclaimed Miyako as she threw an accusing finger at Hikari, who was closest to her. "You just said we were the Destined and had some weird powers and were sent here to, I quote'Save the Digital World from Pathogen'"

Hikari looked troubled and sought Daisuke for help. The dark-haired boy grinned and took Miyako's arm. "Come on! We don't have much time. If we want to get to Piximon's house by night, we better leave now 'cause trust me, you don't want to be traveling here at night," he ordered, gesturing for the others to follow.

As they began walking, Koushirou eyed Daisuke from behind unsurely. "What's wrong with traveling at night?" he queried. The younger boy looked at him sharply.

"Let's just say a lot of ugly things like to come out at night."

Koushirou blanched and Daisuke winked at him before turning his attention to a protesting Miyako. Koushirou slowed his pace until he met up with Jyou and Yamato, who were walking side-by-side without speaking. The redhead smiled at the two and shook his head lightly. _When are those two going to get their feelings out in the open?_ Of course he knew Yamato's memory was still a bit incomplete but it was only a matter of time before they remembered everything. Being in the Digital World had practically guaranteed that—with the digimon crawling in every corner and the familiar setting, even Koushirou, who retained his full memory, was beginning to recall some small incidents in the depth of his mind.

Walking in knee-deep grass was easy enough. With the cool air around them, it was like they were going on some sort of hike rather than trekking through the Digital World. As far as Koushirou remembered, he never knew of any land like this in the Digital World, which made him wonder if they were still in it. The possibilities that they were in another world didn't seem too unlikely in his mind considering Piximon's portal. True, the Digital World was vast but most of its land was either a completely barren wasteland and desert or lively bright fields and forests. The land they were in now was too perfect and surreal to be part of the Digital World. Koushirou frowned to himself suddenly. But then again the Dark Plains were the complete opposite and that ungodly place existed in the Digital World so why not this place?

"…This is just part of Piximon's training, I'm sure of it. Remember he spoke about it before we faced off against Pathogen? Stupid us, we should have taken his offer instead of running off blindly."

"Quite frankly, I don't remember."

"Oh...yeah."

Koushirou couldn't help but chuckle at Daisuke's frustration with Miyako. The girl wasn't even trying to recollect anything; she just took everything in blankly. _Well, at least she'll have Hikari to fill her in._ Koushirou began wondering on Daisuke's words. He remembered faintly that argument they had a long time ago with Piximon. He had wanted to train them before they faced off against Pathogen but they were too stubborn to accept it and left him. Piximon was furious. Koushirou sighed and shook his head. They were so naïve and foolish back then. And now that they were back, it seemed Piximon was making sure they got their training.

"Heads up!"

Nearly everyone looked up just in time to duck their heads just as a large digimon flew down on them, snapping its jaws at the heads it barely missed. It flew in a circle before coming back again. Daisuke noticed this first and warned the others to go as low as they could on the ground. The result was eleven bodies lying sprawled out in various places, hidden by the grass. Daisuke had distracted the bird for a bit before leaping behind into the bush of green.

Once he was close to the ground, he turned and saw Taichi looking at him strangely.

"What the hell was that?"

Grinning, Daisuke shrugged as best as he could while lying down. "I'm not exactly sure. But it appeared to be a pterodactyl-like digimon," he replied offhandedly.

Taichi glared at Daisuke's cheerfulness before feeling a rush of air by the nape of his neck. He knew that the digimon had probably come pretty close to finding him. "Have any ideas on getting rid of it?" he asked.

"Well…have you tried using your powers since you got here?"

The older boy blinked in surprise before intensifying his glare on Daisuke. "You of all people should know considering I _have_ been with you since I came here," he growled in a low tone.

Daisuke chuckled. "Okay, okay, back off!" he exclaimed. "But you know, now would be a great opportunity to test out your powers. Considering you haven't used them in four years they might be a little rusty," he continued, laughing to himself. _Piximon, you sneak, trying to give us a little practice before meeting up with you, eh?_

Taichi stared at the dark-haired boy for a while before sighing. Then without warning, he brought two fingers to his lips and blew an ear-piercing whistle that echoed throughout the field. Daisuke stared at him in shock as he began talking aloud. "Everyone out there stand up! We're going to take this beast down ourselves!" he exclaimed before standing up himself.

Daisuke looked up at Taichi and winced when the bird made a swoop for him. Taichi narrowly dodged it and before Daisuke knew it, he was standing up beside the older boy. "Come on, everyone! We can beat this sorry excuse of a digimon! We've done it before!" he rang out, grinning at Taichi.

Again the digimon flew at them and this time Taichi and Daisuke split into different directions and the bird froze in confusion. Daisuke brought his hands in front of him and produced a small fireball that hit the bird in its eye, causing it to screech in pain.

"See? All you have to do is trust your instincts! They'll take over from there! Now, COME ON!"

Slowly the group started coming out from their hiding places and gathered around Taichi and Daisuke nervously. The bird was starting to recover and glared at all of them dangerously.

"Koush, why don't you try a lightning attack?"

Everyone looked at Taichi in surprise and the boy shrugged. "Hey, at least I'm beginning to remember something right?" he commented while Daisuke grinned at him.

Koushirou looked at Taichi in horror and then at the incoming digimon. "You have got to be kidding me!" he yelled as the group missed another attack. Daisuke glared at the redhead.

"You can do it, Koush! You remember how to, just try! Your powers didn't leave you in the last four years; they're just dormant. We can keep the digimon busy for the time being."

"…If you say so."

With a heavy heart, Koushirou tried to focus his mind on bringing out his power. He stood still and closed his eyes, shutting off everything around him. It was like being in an empty hallway that was dark. He could see the light at the end and it felt as if he had forgotten something important. A feeling of warmth surrounded him, beckoning for him to embrace it and he did. Almost instantly Koushirou felt something surge through his entire body, awakening his every sense and nerve. It was all too much to bear and Koushirou wanted to let some of it out. Opening his eyes finally, all the Keeper of Knowledge saw was the bird staring at him darkly and out of instinct brought his hands forward when it approached him. Koushirou became a human voltage box and electricity sparked from his fingertips and he could feel every hair on his body standing up when the energy left him and went into the digimon, causing it to shudder and screech in agony.

Out of sympathy for the digimon, Koushirou lowered his hands and stopped the stream of electricity from going into its body. Suddenly everything seemed to clear up and he saw his friends standing around him, staring at him in awe and surprise at the burnt body of the bird on the ground. Shaking his head, Koushirou tried to calm his raging heart and even then he could still feel the electricity trying to bite its way out. It was a strange yet reassuring feeling, like meeting an old friend.

A heavy pat to his back brought Koushirou back to reality and he looked at Daisuke.

"That was extremely strange, horrible, yet wonderful at the same time," he commented slowly, frowning at the frazzled state of his mind. Looking at Daisuke, he narrowed his eyes. "The energy wants to come out and it hurts."

Daisuke smiled knowingly. "I know. Remember you haven't used your power in a while. I think what happened was you brought too much of it out and that's not usually a good idea. You'll learn to control it soon enough, don't worry," he explained before looking at everyone else. "It'll probably be like this for all of you. Awakening your power is easy enough but controlling it will be the hardest thing to relearn. You were all good at it before so don't worry, it'll come back to you."

A low murmur of uncertainty rang about and Daisuke rolled his eyes. "God, how I hate these inspiring speeches," he commented to Taichi, who stifled his laughter. "Come on, people! We have to head out now unless you want to be made bird food!"

This caught everyone's attention and they immediately began trooping down the grass again. The sun was still shining brightly and Daisuke estimated to be early in the afternoon or late morning. They had only been walking for half an hour. Sighing, he walked last and thought to himself. The trip to Piximon's mansion would take a full day's journey without any disturbances. But of course Piximon would challenge them at different points so if there were any more incidents like that bird, the trip could take a full week at most. Daisuke was not pleased with that thought.

Looking over at Koushirou's direction, he smiled faintly. He had done a good job with the bird. In fact he had done better than what Daisuke expected. _That bird really was a goner from the start,_ he thought amusedly. Feeling strangely light-hearted, Daisuke looked ahead of them and eyed the majestic house in the distance. Now he was sure that Takeru was with Piximon. Even he wouldn't risk Takeru going with them out of concern for his health. Daisuke shuddered lightly when he remembered finding the blond in the bathroom, completely still and the scream that had issued from him. It was one of the most terrifying things he ever witnessed. And despite every grudge he had against Takeru, Daisuke couldn't help but feel worried for him. A ghost's poison could easily kill someone if it attacked through the head or heart. Luckily Takeru only got hit in his arm, but that was trouble enough.

Like Piximon said, he could either keep the arm or just get rid of it. Either way, Takeru was going to lose something.

Daisuke shook his head. _Even if he is a bastard, he didn't deserve this._ But before he could think any further, a loud scream was sounded. Looking up, Daisuke was hit by something long and quick and it was certainly enough to knock the breath out of him as he hit the ground painfully. For a few seconds all he saw were bright spots and a heavy queasiness in his mind before regaining his composure. He grasped at his chest to soothe the dull ache from which the attack landed and breathed in deeply before standing up and joining the others.

"What's going—?"

However, his question stopped dead when he looked at what everyone else was facing. In the sky was a snakelike digimon glaring at them scathingly. It was black and its scaly skin reflected the light in an almost beautiful pattern if not for the red eyes that glowed sinisterly. And in its grip was none other than a struggling Sora. Daisuke clenched his teeth.

"Let her go, you stupid digimon!" he shouted indignantly. The digimon snapped its jaws at him and floated higher up, its grip on Sora tightening. The girl screamed in pain and the digimon grinned toothily at Daisuke, who was shaking in anger.

"My name, _human_, is Snahhanmon," he introduced in a cold tone before his eyes glittered white for a second. "Now say good-bye to your little friend."

Without the slightest gesture, Snahhanmon glided away into the distance smoothly, leaving the Destined behind in shock and turmoil.

* * *

TBC

Hmm...three more days and this story will be officially two-years-old. Wow... As a treat I'm posting another chapter, which will then mark a new record for me: the posting of two chapters within a seven-day period. :P

Mrs. Passionate: Hi! I never expected to see any new reviewers. Welcome to the chaos known as _Ethereal_. Hope this satisfied your craving!

LadyDevimon: Yup, you got it. Jyou's crest is Faith in the Japanese version. Translated to Reliability in the dub, which is actually one of their better interpretations of the original.

andromeda90: A Yamajyou fan like me! Hurray for that! I favor these two a lot. Their part will be coming up soon. Probably after a few more chapters so hope you'll be patient with me!

DarkLights: Don't recall seeing you here before, either. In any case, hoped you enjoyed this chapter as well. It's decently long, right:D

Wolfkun: Yes, Daisuke was being a little defensive, huh? He and Takeru are really at odds with each other. How I love conflicts!

And to anyone else who read (but didn't review :P), hoped you like this part as well. This story is so old honestly, and this is really the turning point in my writing style. You can note a definite difference between this part and the previous ones. Hopefully, this one is better! If it isn't…then goddamn, my writing is getting worse rather than better! Aah…let me stop raving now.

Editing Note: Revised and proofread all the chapters. Damn, that took a long time. I also managed to get rid of little plot holes in Chapter X. (Annoying little suckers!) Oh yeah, and if you're at all curious, Aero and Snahhanmon are originals. Snahhanmon's name came from the Old High German word meaning to crawl, _snahhan_. Other original digimon will be popping up some time in the future as well. Don't worry, though. No original people. I would hate to be accused of a Mary Sue. Yeesh. Okay, I think that's it for now. Stay tuned!


	14. Sword Wielder

**Chapter XIII**

Wood was the main foundation of the house. Inside there were rooms the size of gymnasiums and small gardens that appeared and disappeared depending on the time of day. Usually there was a lone fountain in front of the entrance, however, during the night when the moon was full, it would spurt water suddenly and continue doing this until daybreak.

The most bizarre thing had to be the rooms, though. Each one had its own unique feature. For instance, no matter how many times a person went through the house, Piximon's quarters were never discovered. There was also one room that once when you went into, it completely engulfed you, leaving you standing in an endless abyss of blue. The only way out was for someone on the outside to open the door. In that same room time seemed to slow down dramatically and if one stayed their long enough, images and memories that were long abhorred would surface. It was enough to drive someone insane let alone lose themselves completely to the tormenting images.

Piximon's house was a complete funhouse.

Takeru had arrived there half conscious being supported by none other than Aero. Then there was nothing for quite a while. When he had awoken, he found himself in a white room floating in midair with nothing else around him. His arm was still bleeding and drops of blood would occasionally obscure the whiteness below him only to dissolve into the abyss after a few seconds. Takeru also found himself immobilized in that lying position and it greatly annoyed him until, with a sudden bang, a hole was opened up in the room—a hole that largely resembled a door. It was like a catalyst and the whiteness in the room disappeared altogether immediately, leaving Takeru floating now in darkness until a figure at the door came over to him.

Naturally, it was Piximon and he greeted Takeru with a wide grin. With a wave of his staff, Takeru soon found himself sprawled out painfully on the ground.

"Well, I think you've had enough time to recuperate in here. It's time for you to come on out now!" he exclaimed cheerfully before the entire room disappeared from around them. They now stood in a room that looked almost like a ballroom with an ornate chandelier in the center of the ceiling and the great vastness of floor space. A few chairs were placed around the middle of the room and there was a merry fireplace towards the back of the room.

Takeru still found himself unable to stand up and looked up at Piximon inquisitively. The red digimon stared back at him blankly before laughing suddenly. "Oh! Yes, I forgot! You still can't move," he remarked, snapping his fingers. Takeru felt a warm tingly feeling run through his body and soon was able to stand up stiffly. He looked down at his arm and noticed that it had stopped bleeding, though now the codes that ran up from his wrist to his elbow was a bright and fury crimson color; it also now covered half his forearm. Takeru could barely move his fingers without feeling a sharp pain.

"That room you were in was used only to help prevent the poison from spreading throughout the rest of your body. Don't worry. The poison's dormant now but that arm will not be very useful anymore," came Piximon's voice.

Takeru looked down at his arm and raised it to his face, examining the codes carefully. He was grateful the intense pain he felt earlier was now gone but Piximon's words rang through his ears like a dragging reminder. _That arm will not be very useful anymore…_ Takeru looked at Piximon and narrowed his eyes.

"You said it could be overcome."

Piximon blinked in slight surprise and hid a smile. "Did I?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

"Your eyes said it," replied Takeru calmly as he watched the small digimon before him warily. Piximon was known for his puzzling games and riddles yet Takeru was always able to see straight through his antics and find the truth. If there was anything he could do to regain the strength in his arm, he would do it.

"It's really quite simple. All you have to do is try to ignore the pain whenever you use your arm. Mind you, the pain is quite intense but with the right mind and attitude, you could overcome it. The codes that circle your arm are evidence of the ghost's poison, though now it is inactive. It still is enough to paralyze it completely, however, if you don't learn to deal with it."

Takeru frowned and looked down at his arm. "So I just have to use my arm as I normally would?"

"Oh, it's going to take much more than that, Takeru. You're going to have to do some extensive training with that arm. Something like wielding a sword would do well and if you keep doing it, you could overrun the poison's effects," continued Piximon.

"Wielding a sword…?"

This time Piximon laughed and did a flip in the air. "Yes, of course! It is an excellent weapon to learn and it will be very effective in the healing of your arm. However, there is a time limit. The poison that did manage to affect you will eventually take complete hold of your arm in probably two months at most. Then it will be impossible to ever use your arm again," he replied. "Besides, I was planning on teaching all of you how to fight anyhow. It's a very reliable skill to have. After all, you can't always depend on your powers."

"Where are the others?"

"They're probably trying to find their way over here. I would have left you with them but with your condition, you probably wouldn't have made it," Piximon answered brightly before floating off. Takeru followed him warily.

"I assume that getting here will be more of a task than you make it seem."

Piximon winked at Takeru. "You're quick at intake, Takeru. A very good skill to have!" he exclaimed with a grin. He sighed and then flew towards the door. "You can help yourself and wander around as freely as want. When the others come, though, that's when the real training begins. Oh, and be cautious around some of the rooms here. They can be quite gravitating."

Takeru didn't know how to respond to this and just kept quiet as Piximon left the room. He stood still for a few more moments before picking up his pace and leaving the room. Once he was out Takeru took one last glance at the wide room and closed the doors silently. Sighing, he turned and began loitering down the hall, opening whichever door appeared most interesting to his eye. _Oh, and be cautious around some of the rooms here. They can be quite gravitating. _Piximon's words echoed in his mind like a constant reminder whenever he peered into one room or another. It created constant questions in Takeru's minds. How could a room be gravitating? And what would happen if he went into these types of rooms? Stopping at one door, Takeru looked it over carefully. The _door_ was in a shape of an arch with vines and wooden figurines of butterflies and faeries decorating the handle and about the height of Takeru's shoulders. The color of the wood was a rich mahogany and there was small circular opening in the center to which Takeru bent down to peer through.

There he saw green. Green plants, green flowers, and even green light. Takeru narrowed his eyes a bit more and saw that there were other colors as well, though they were off in the distance. Suddenly something blocked his view and Takeru found himself greeted by another large yellow eye. Gasping, he leapt away from the door and fell to his knees in shock. The eye still stared at him from the hole and Takeru could distinctly hear a chuckle.

"What…?"

"It's been a while hasn't it, Takeru?"

Stunned, Takeru blinked a few times before standing up slowly. With a steady hand he turned the handle and the door swung open slowly, revealing the creature on the other side. Long and slim with silver scales glittering an odd pale green because of the light and sagacious yellow eyes regarding him like an old friend—Aerodramon.

Smiling immediately, Takeru greeted the dragon digimon with a hug. "Aero," he murmured into the mane of white hair. The dragon muzzled him back before pulling away, eyes glittering brightly. Then without a word, Aero took Takeru's sleeve in his mouth and pulled him deeper into the green wonderland. The blond followed after hastily closing the door, finding that once he did the door simply melted away into the background. For a second Takeru panicked but was reassured when Aero looked at him, eyes laughing at him. "I assume you know the way back," he muttered more to himself. Aero nodded and led Takeru to a small clearing.

It was a miraculous place really. The sky was a pale green mixed with yellow and blue and there was no sun but the sky itself seemed to be the one casting the mysterious glow on everything there. The plants were an abundance of different sorts, ranging from lime green to a dark emerald shade. As they journeyed over the ground, Takeru noticed that it was the only part that was not green whatsoever. It was the normal color of dirt—an earthy rich tone of brown. Takeru didn't know whether to find this amusing or not. A little farther off the scenery changed drastically and Takeru could make out more colors. It was like admiring a painting from a distance.

"This is Piximon's main garden," stated Aero simply. Takeru looked at him dubiously and stared up at the sky.

"Is it…?"

"It is enclosed if that was what you were going to ask. Piximon would never leave a place like this outside. There are too many digimon that would take advantage of it."

Takeru narrowed his eyes. "Take advantage of it?" he murmured.

"Yes, young Takeru. There are many useful herbs and plants here that can produce miraculous potions. But that's not the reason why you're here," interjected a new voice.

Takeru turned around and found himself face-to-face with a short digimon about the height of his waist with a pointed hat and a scarf that covered the lower part of its face. The blond blinked in surprise. The digimon was a friend of Gatomon, though his name was one that Takeru couldn't quite recall at that moment. All he could think about was why he had appeared before him and Aero, and he voiced that question aloud.

The digimon merely laughed. "I'm here on a request from Piximon. You could say I'm here to help train you and the rest of the Destined," he replied enigmatically. Takeru stared at him for a while before closing his eyes in thought. He had a sixth sense about people on whether or not they were telling the truth. This digimon, he decided, was being honest.

"What's your name?"

"Oi…you forgot?"

"It's been four years."

"Ah yes, true…"

The digimon looked at Takeru amusedly, but the latter failed to notice it and stared back at him dully. Finally the digimon bowed gracefully, politely taking off his hat with a flourish. "The name is Wizardmon," he announced. Takeru blinked and the name registered clearly in his mind. He often remembered how Gatomon spoke of him so fondly.

"I remember now," he murmured quietly. Wizardmon nodded and walked over to Takeru, waving his staff. Instantly the blond felt as if his right arm became a dead weight. He looked down at it in wonder and found that he couldn't lift it at all. "What did you do?" he inquired softly, his voice betraying the confusion he felt.

"Catch."

Takeru looked up just in time to see Wizardmon toss him what appeared to be a sword. Instinctively, Takeru raised his left arm and caught it with his hand before grimacing in pain and dropping it suddenly. He stared at the weapon for a while before glaring up at the digimon. He felt Aero curl up behind him in support. "Reason?" he demanded in a cold tone, one that surprised Wizardmon.

"Hm…whatever happened to that happy, polite boy I knew?" he asked himself before turning his focus on Takeru. "Well, I put that spell on your right arm because I wanted you to work only with your left—the one that's injured. If you want to recover completely, you're going to have to learn to deal heavily with the pain," he continued, eyeing Takeru severely.

The blond was no longer looking at Wizardmon. Instead, his gaze was now turned to the fallen sword before him. Wizardmon watched as he slowly took it into his hand, trembling slightly but still steady. The digimon could only imagine the agony this movement caused Takeru and sympathized the best he could. Finally Takeru held the handle of the sword tightly in his left hand and showed no signs of strain in his face, yet Wizardmon knew it was just a mask.

"What now?"

Smiling to himself, Wizardmon mentally applauded Takeru. _He has determination, this one… If all the rest of the Destined are like him, then we won't have to worry about Pathogen for much longer_. He looked at Aero and noticed that the dragon held a certain gleam in his eyes as he watched Takeru—pride? It would be the logical thing. Aero respected Takeru and cared for him as a close friend. After all, Takeru was the one who saved him so many years ago.

"Well, now I teach!" Wizardmon exclaimed, clapping his hands once.

The scenery changed and soon the trio found themselves standing in a plain field with tall grass swaying in the breeze. Takeru looked around with some bewilderment and Wizardmon decided to answer his question before he asked it.

"We're still in Piximon's garden by the way, just in a different region; his garden stretches over many miles," he remarked lightly.

Takeru blinked and then he and Aero shared a look that the digimon couldn't quite comprehend. But when Takeru looked at him again, Wizardmon could see the focus and sheer determination in his eyes. The look both surprised and invoked some awe in the digimon. _He has definitely changed… Ah, Piximon you were right. He is going to be something to work with,_ he mused.

Snapping out of his reverie, Wizardmon put on the fierce look he was known for and directed Takeru. "First we're just going to deal with how to hold the sword in general. There are many different stances, but I'm just going to go over the basic ones today. Tomorrow we shall start with defense and then gradually move onto offense," he began. He walked over to Takeru and tapped the sword he was holding. "Now raise it a little higher… This is a defensive stance. After you master using your left arm, we will go onto using your right arm. And I assure you, it's much easier on the right since that it as the arm you are used to."

Takeru did as he was told, wincing very slightly whenever he applied more pressure to his hold on the sword. Piximon and Wizardmon were definitely accurate on the "it's going to hurt like hell" bit. He could barely focus on what Wizardmon was saying to him about mastering the sword and then moving onto his right. All he wanted to do was just drop the forsaken sword but something in him kept with it. Perhaps it was just stubbornness but he was not going down without a fight. The pain was agonizing but his will was too strong for it to bring him down at this point.

"The sword is an elegant weapon but can be very destructive depending on the wielder. I'm not here to teach you to kill with the sword but merely to defend you or anyone else that will need it. It's the same with your powers. You must never use them to kill when it's not necessary. I know Piximon has told you this in the past but it's a very critical thing to remember."

"I know."

The words were barely gritted out of Takeru's teeth as he held the sword as steadily as he could with his left arm. It was a heavy weapon despite the fact that it was so thin and Takeru was only allowed to use one marred arm. He turned all of his attention to Wizardmon as he gave his lecture in an attempt to "ignore the pain," as Piximon said to him before.

"Do you now? Then let us begin. I want to first see how your overall reflexes are so I'm going to be throwing some rocks at you. I want you to hit as many as you can with that sword, understand? Good."

_Some rocks_ turned out to be a spell of dozens of large pebbles thrown at Takeru at different speeds and direction. The blond nearly cursed aloud when he saw how many Wizardmon had conjured up. The digimon merely looked at him in an almost childlike glee before sending them at Takeru. They raced through the air and no matter how many Takeru managed to hit, five more seemed to hit _him_. The pain in his arm also intensified but now that Takeru was focused on trying to hit the flying assailants, he did not notice it nearly as much as before. Wizardmon watched the concentration in Takeru's eyes and smiled to himself. _He just takes everything that's given to him without question or complaint. My, my, he's going to be bruised tomorrow._ The digimon winced when one large stone managed to land smack down on Takeru's injured arm. The boy nearly dropped the sword in shock and pain but gritted his teeth together and continued on with the exercise.

Wizardmon then put an end to the practice and nodded at Takeru. "Hm…yes, not bad at all. Your reflexes are pretty good for a human that's never had practice in this sort of thing. We do, however, need to build up some strength in that arm because I've noticed that it has been drooping lower and lower with every swing…," he drawled on, much to the dissatisfaction of Takeru.

He listened to Wizardmon but inside he just wanted to get everything over and done with. As the smaller digimon began another lecture, Takeru let his gaze wander to the bright blue sky in that particular region. He remembered the others and what Piximon had told him. _They're trying to find their way here… I know that's going to be a difficult journey. _For a strange moment, Takeru felt a certain longing to be where they were. Despite that nearly half of them still had missing memories, at least they were all together. Sooner or latter they would remember everything. It felt odd for him to be estranged from them. Takeru closed his eyes and lowered his head. _I suppose it's for the best. We'll all be here together soon enough._ That thought reassured the blond very little—especially when he remembered Daisuke. The look the dark-haired boy had shot him when they first reunited again was mind-blowing. It was full of anger and such enmity. It hurt Takeru to remember so he shook his head and looked up to see Wizardmon glaring at him.

"Takeru, this is a very serious situation! I'm trying to help train you to be prepared for your confrontation with Pathogen and you're dazing off somewhere! Goodness knows…"

Hiding a sigh, Takeru thought to himself. _This is going to be a long day…_

* * *

TBC

Extra long to commemorate two years. :D Two updates within a week. What is happening to me? If you couldn't tell, starting from the previous chapter, the story shifts through different views—one focusing on Daisuke and the others and the second on Takeru. So the next part will deal with the rest of the Destined. Will they overcome Snahhanmon and rescue Sora? Oh, the drama!


	15. The Potential Within

**Chapter XIV**

"What the hell are we going to do? Sora's been kidnapped by a great snake digimon and we're just standing here like idiots!"

Taichi shook his head in annoyance at Miyako's outburst. Beside him, Hikari was doing her best to try and calm the raging girl. "Please, Miyako! You have to compose yourself. If you want to help Sora, we need to be collected and cool. Overreacting won't get us anywhere," she practically shouted out. Miyako finally ended her ranting and crossed her arms haughtily.

"I'm really beginning to regret in agreeing to come here."

"Well, that's fucking great but right now we have a bigger problem to deal with," commented Daisuke as he glared at the older girl. He didn't recall Miyako being this temperamental but then four years could do a lot to change someone. Sighing, he rubbed his temples fiercely. Thinking up of rescue plans was never his forte and the longer they stayed there, the smaller their chance at rescuing Sora would become.

Just then, Taichi popped up with a suggestion. "Instead of sitting around here thinking up of plans, I say we at least try to go in the direction Snahhanmon went in. We might be able to meet up with him and then we can think of something then," he said.

Daisuke jumped up at that idea. "Yes, that is a fucking brilliant idea! Snahhanmon didn't leave much of a trail to follow but right now Taichi's plan is the only good thing we have," he agreed, his tone enthusiastic. The others nodded dimly and stood up to follow the two leaders. Daisuke shook his head and glanced at the older man beside him. "You know I don't remember ever having to do this much ordering around. I'm beginning to think these guys lost their spine in the last couple of years," he remarked with a frown.

Taichi snickered and glanced behind them where the rest of the Destined were trailing them. Miyako, Hikari, and Mimi were all huddled together, Hikari obviously doing her best to reassure the other two. Ken, Koushirou, and Iori walked in their own quiet group and Jyou and Yamato followed close behind. All of them wore troubled and confused looks on their faces. Taichi sighed deeply and turned to face Daisuke.

"Half of us still have incomplete memories of this place, Dais. They're probably just confused and scared. I remember faintly leading them in the past but it's still a blur. Just give them some time," he replied softly.

The younger boy remained silent and Taichi looked down at him wonderingly. Part of what he remembered was Daisuke being louder and brasher than now. Taichi smiled faintly at this. Daisuke was more considerate and open to different ideas and solutions at present. In fact, all of them seemed to have changed from what Taichi could recall. Four years…the thought saddened him. All that time wasted. At least now they were together again and back to the crazy adventures in the Digital World.

"HEY! WAIT UP!"

The entire group briefly came to an abrupt halt and looked behind them to see two small digimon running towards them. One was blue and the other yellow. Daisuke's face immediately broke into a wide grin. "V-mon!" he cried out just as the digimon jumped into his arms. Taichi looked at him in wonder before the yellow digimon did the same move on him, knocking him down to the ground in shock.

"Taichi!" the digimon squealed in happiness. The dark-haired man looked down at him curiously before petting his head awkwardly. Looking up at Daisuke, he saw the younger boy grinning at him amusedly.

"What the hell is that?" cried out Miyako before anyone of them could speak.

Daisuke rolled his eyes. "_They_ are digimon, Miyako. And don't be too surprised because you have one close companion of your own as well. Though I don't know where the hell Hawkmon and the others are now," he explained, his grin widening at Miyako's shocked expression.

"I missed you so much, Taichi!" the yellow digimon exclaimed, attracting the attention from the rest of the Destined, including Taichi who was still at a loss for words. Hikari giggled quietly at her brother's baffled expression and leaned down next to him.

"He's one of your closest friend, Tai," she offered.

Taichi stared at Hikari dubiously before looking back at the digimon in his arms who was now staring up at him hopefully. "Agumon?" he finally squeaked out. The effect was immediate. Agumon hugged Taichi harder until the man was gasping for air. "A-Agumon! Air!" he choked out. The fire digimon finally let him go, a look of guilt on his face but still grinning broadly.

"I knew you would remember me, Taichi! We had too many good times together for you to forget me completely," he said cheerfully. Taichi nodded stiffly, though a small smile was on his face as he stared into the face of his newly reacquainted friend.

Then a sudden clapping brought Taichi out of his reverie. Everyone looked up to see Yamato. "I'm sorry to break this very special reunion but we do have a friend of ours in need of rescuing," he reminded, his tone cool yet demanding. Suddenly everyone was moving again, V-mon and Agumon trailing along happily.

After a few more minutes, it was Jyou who came to a stop. Daisuke turned around to look at him irritably. "Aye…_Jyou_! What is it now?" he whined. The blue-haired man looked at him and everyone else guiltily.

"Sorry, a thought came to me," he began, "but couldn't we use V-mon and Agumon to help track down Snahhanmon? I'm assuming it would easier for digimon to track each other down."

There was a silence for a moment before Taichi literally pounced on top of the taller man. "You are an absolute genius, Jyou!" he exclaimed before looking at Agumon and V-mon expectantly. The two digimon looked confused for a moment before finally getting the idea.

"Oh yeah! We can track down Snahhanmon easily!" remarked Agumon brightly. V-mon nodded by his side.

Daisuke shook his head and shared a glance with Ken that clearly said, "We are idiots for not thinking of this sooner." Ken grinned and shrugged. Daisuke turned to face V-mon and Agumon. "Now you're sure you can track Snahhanmon?" he inquired. Both digimon nodded. "All right. Go for it."

The two digimon then at that moment evolved, a blinding light rushing forth as they did so. The Destined all covered their eyes at the brilliance of it before it died down, revealing two nearly completely different digimon standing in their wake.

"D-Dinosaur!" screamed Mimi as she pointed at the newly evolved Greymon. The digimon merely looked at her curiously. Beside her, Hikari laughed and even Miyako managed a grin.

Taichi grinned at Greymon. "Wow…now it's all beginning to come back to me," he murmured quietly so that only Daisuke heard it. The younger boy grinned before sending the two digimon off on their search.

"Come back when you have news, okay?" he called out. The two nodded and went off into the distance, already picking up on some sort of trail from Snahhanmon. After a few long seconds, Daisuke sat down on a boulder, a solemn look on his face.

He had never imagined Piximon to actually go this far just for them to get some training. But then again the digimon always did have some very scary methods of "teaching a lesson." Daisuke managed a small smile at that but at the same time it could not quell the worry in his heart. Sora had been kidnapped by a seemingly dangerous digimon and hopefully she was still all right. Piximon was a bit insane at times but he would never let them get hurt _intentionally_…unless it was part of the training of course. Daisuke frowned at that. _Oh, fuck it. Either way we're going to get hurt some way or another,_ he angrily told himself. There was no point in try to deny that factor.

"How do you think Takeru is doing?"

Blinking, Daisuke looked up and saw Yamato regarding him carefully. His question managed to register in his mind for a second before he crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Well, I imagine Piximon is dealing with him in some weird, crazy way. I don't think he's dead if that's what you wanted to hear," he replied casually.

Yamato frowned slightly at the lofty tone Daisuke had spoken in. "You don't seem to like Takeru much do you?" he inquired curiously.

The latter stared at him placidly. "Well, when you leave someone to _die_, it does cause some issues—especially when you thought that someone considered you a friend," he remarked coldly.

How Daisuke hated to be reminded of the past. He wished in vain to let go of it but he just couldn't. Every time he heard Takeru's name, it washed up memories of being abandoned. Takeru was the main reason why now he didn't trust anyone anymore. Save Wallace and his digimon friends, Daisuke was pretty much aloof with everyone else. Even now, though he knew that the others had no fault in this whatsoever. He blamed Takeru for everything and he blamed himself for not being able to handle it.

"I'm sorry."

That was all Yamato said before walking away, leaving Daisuke to himself.

"Hey…Greymon's back," a quiet voice interjected.

Daisuke turned and saw that it was Iori who made the comment and then at the towering yellow digimon that came running towards them. "Did you find any—?" he began before Greymon cut in.

"We found Snahhanmon! Fladramon is trying his best to distract him right now," the digimon exclaimed.

Taichi stood up. "Well, then what are we waiting for?" he called out. Suddenly everyone followed suit and for the first time, showed signs of true drive and determination. Daisuke smiled at this and followed them as Greymon began leading them out in the vast field.

* * *

"But you see…my _brother_ was always known as the _tough_ one in the family. Well, I'll show them now!"

"How…nice."

Struggling a smile, Sora did all she could from yawning as the snake digimon stared down at her. He had been talking on straight for about an hour now and quite frankly, she was beginning to get a little more than bored. Snahhanmon had encased her in a bone cage and she didn't think to wonder on where those bones came from; many looked human and that was enough to keep her from examining them any further.

"I remember one time when we were in our rookie stages…"

_Oh dear…another story,_ thought Sora miserably. All the digimon ever spoke about was his brother—how his brother was this or how his brother was that, and how his family just _adored_ him and how he himself hated him. Apparently, the two digimon had some issues. Sora sighed and sat back down on the cold ground. Snahhanmon's lair was much like a cave and extremely high up from the ground. She shuddered when she remembered her flight up. The digimon was careful enough but that didn't keep Sora from sighting the ground far below and nearly fainting in the process.

The lair was a mixture of stones. On the outside it had an ordinary entrance but once inside, Sora saw that it was not the case. Onyx ceilings and floors glimmered all about and the walls appeared to be made out of opal from what the fiery-haired girl could gather. There were also numerous tunnels that led to places unknown to her for Snahhanmon kept them detained in the main room. Sora could almost say the place was beautiful if not for the filth and stench the snake digimon produced. Dripping from the ceiling was a slimy, yellowish substance that Sora really did not want to know about. Fortunately, fresh air blew in frequently from the gaping hole that was the entrance but Snahhanmon would often cover it up when he went into one of his rants, snorting out a fowl odor.

_Where are you guys?_ Sora leaned against her bone cage miserably and hoped for them to appear soon.

"ARRG!"

With a start, Sora stood up only to see that Snahhanmon had somehow managed to get one of his own claws ensnared in that slimy mess. She frowned and shook her head. "He really is a hopeless digimon," she muttered to herself.

"WHAT!"

"Umm…"

Sora stuttered in complete shock. She hadn't expected Snahhanmon to be able to hear from that far. Now she faced a raging digimon whose red eyes were glowing dangerously. "I…uh…wasn't talking about you!" she said helplessly. "I was speaking of…uh…V-mon! You know, he really is such a naïve digimon. He would follow someone off a mountain!"

Snahhanmon sneered and Sora cringed. _Not good,_ she thought before suddenly, a large gust of wind blew in, knocking her against the wall. Snahhanmon roared in anger.

"WHO DARES INTERRUPT ME!"

"It is I, Fladramon!" exclaimed a blue digimon heroically.

Sora looked up and broke into a wide smile. "Fladramon! I'm sorry! I take back everything I said before!" she said happily. The digimon merely smiled back.

"It's—"

"OUT, NOW!"

Suddenly, without warning, Snahhanmon leapt forward and tackled Fladramon to the ground, his large fangs flashing in the air. Sora screamed and watched as the enraged digimon sank its teeth into Fladramon's skin. The fire digimon let out a horrific cry before managing to push Snahhanmon away. Blood dripped freely from his wound and he looked slightly dazed.

"Fladramon!" screamed Sora as she watched the digimon sink to the ground in a dead faint, reverting back to V-mon. "Where in the world is Greymon?" she cried out just as the large dinosaur digimon jumped into action. The other Destined were amounted on him.

"MORE INTRUDERS!" yelled Snahhanmon. It was not just his eyes that were glowing now; his entire body was shedding off an eerie red light as he hissed at Daisuke when he ran to the fallen V-mon. "Don't be in such a hurry to join your pathetic digimon, human," he warned sadistically before firing a bright sting from his claws.

Daisuke looked up just in time to see the object flying at him before letting out a large fireball from the palm of his hand. The two attacks met in midair and cancelled each other out. "This is for V-mon!" he shouted as he let out another fireball, this time bigger and much more powerful.

Snahhanmon merely took once glance at it before flying upwards, dodging the attack completely. Daisuke cursed before placing V-mon into his arms and hurrying away towards Sora. "Are you all right?" he inquired urgently as he melted the bones away with his hands. Sora nodded faintly. "Good. Now take V-mon and get over to where Greymon and the others are. I'll take care of snaky," he instructed as he pushed Sora.

"What about you? Can't Greymon help you?" Sora asked worriedly.

Daisuke shook his head. "Don't worry! Greymon will take the rest of you down. I can take care of Snahhanmon myself," he urged.

"But—"

"Go!" exclaimed Daisuke before Sora finally ran away.

He watched as she greeted the others and sighed before turning his full attention on the floating digimon, who was still glowering down at him. He wondered faintly why Snahhanmon allowed the others to leave but pushed the thought away. _I guess he just wants to deal with me._ Daisuke smiled at the thought. _And that's fine with me! _Raising both hands before him, he focused all his energy. A small white ball appeared before his hands and slowly increased in size.

"Let's see how you like this!" he shouted before releasing the ball of energy. It flew at an alarming speed towards Snahhanmon, but the digimon made no motion to dodge. The attack landed on him squarely, leaving a trail of dust and smoke. Daisuke lowered his arms and watched as the clouds cleared out. Nothing was there.

Frowning, Daisuke looked around him and saw that the lair was now completely empty. Snahhanmon was not in sight. _He couldn't have been destroyed by a blast like that…_ With sudden comprehension, Daisuke ran towards the entrance and looked down. Below him, he saw Snahhanmon and the others sprawled out on the ground. Cursing, Daisuke curled his hand into a fist.

"Fuck," he muttered angrily. "How could I have let him…? That snake was planning this the entire time!"

With a hiss, Daisuke backed away from the entrance slowly. There was no way he could get down now without Fladramon or Greymon to help him. Where in the world was Aero? The spiky-haired youth took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The others didn't have the skills to take on a digimon like Snahhanmon—hell, _he_ didn't have the skills yet. If they all remembered how to use their powers, then it would be a different story. Daisuke opened his eyes and sighed deeply.

"There's only one way then," he murmured.

It had been a technique that Daisuke always feared in using. It required a great deal of concentration and most of the times, he had only been able to do it in emergency situations where it was either life or death. Daisuke closed his eyes and relaxed his posture. If all went well, though, he would be able to turn his entire body into fire and land safely on the ground and revert back to his normal self. This was one of the few things that Daisuke wished he had spoken to Piximon about. The digimon most likely could have taught him how to better control it. The dark-haired boy smiled bitterly. Well, now it was too late for any of that.

Walking up to the edge of the cave, Daisuke looked down. "It's all or nothing," he whispered before leaping off the edge.

The air was cold and biting and Daisuke shut his eyes tightly, concentrating with all his might to bring forth his power. Turning himself into a figure of flames was no easy task and he only succeeded in doing it twice. The first time had been a complete accident when he was falling down to the ground after Aero had taken a direct hit from one of Pathogen's henchmen. In all his panic and blind fear, he had somehow converted to fire and merely landed on the ground as a few sparse flames here and there before rejoining to become one and then back to his regular form. It was a strange sensation to become fire. All Daisuke ever felt was warmth and a strangely invincible aura.

Spinning around wildly, Daisuke felt the rising power from within him. _Please, oh please just let this work for once!_ Opening his eyes, he spotted the ground only good few yards away and hissed.

"Fire and Ice! Courage and Friendship!" he yelled out unconsciously.

Then, like the way a caterpillar slowly makes its way out of a cocoon only to reveal itself as a butterfly, Daisuke felt a change within him. He felt heat—wonderful heat—envelop him in a comforting manner and he embraced it. He closed his eyes and focused on his crest, which had begun to glow a sheering reddish-blue tone, and gradually, licks of fire edged themselves onto the tips of his hands and feet. They then flowed upwards and all around to completely enflame his entire body until it became a bright blue tone. The shape of Daisuke's body was still evident and his eyes had turned to an eerie amber color. With a mighty shout, he landed on the floor with a tremendous splash of flames before collecting himself slowly.

"DAISUKE!"

Once down, Daisuke found that instead of reverting back to his normal self like he usually did, he remained in that fiery form. He looked at himself in surprise and wonder. Never had he seen himself in blue flames before. In the transformations that had taken place before, he had always appeared in reddish-orange flames…never bluish-white. But before he could ponder anymore on this new revelation, Snahhanmon lunged at him with a wide snap of his teeth.

Moving away with surprising agility, Daisuke grinned at the seething digimon. "I have a bone to pick with you, snaky," he taunted as he threw himself at the digimon.

For that instant, his body narrowed into a bullet-shaped figure and pierced Snahhanmon squarely in the chest. The digimon let out a roar of anguish and recoiled painfully as Daisuke withdrew himself. Hissing weakly, Snahhanmon quickly retreated before the boy could make any other attack and glided up back to his fortress, leaving the others in shock.

There was a brief pause among the Destined before Ken gingerly made his way to the flaming form that was Daisuke.

"Daisuke? That…is you, right?" he inquired in pure awe.

The former looked at him before seizing up suddenly. The bluish flames dissipated with a single motion, leaving a smiling Daisuke. "Yep!" he replied back cheerfully.

"What happened to you?" voiced Miyako almost fearfully.

The spiky-haired youth sighed and scratched his head. "I can't really explain. I just basically willed myself to turn into fire…but I've never managed to stay in that form for so long," he explained slowly, looking at the faded crest symbol in his hand. Why had he shouted out those words before he transformed? It came to him involuntarily yet at the same time, felt so natural.

"That was so cool," remarked Taichi ecstatically.

Daisuke grinned whimsically until he remembered Sora. He turned to her in worry. "Are you all right?" he inquired.

Sora gave a short laugh. "Well, Snahhanmon wasn't exactly the best of companions but he didn't do anything to me other than bore me half to death," she replied before turning to the horizon. "I'd say we should start getting back on track. We've lost the day."

The group turned to the setting sun. Reddish-purple hues painted the sky and the warm orange sun was already halfway down the horizon. Glancing up, Daisuke thought to himself. Snahhanmon's cliff seemed to appear friendlier at that moment with the soft light hitting against it. The rest of the sky was already turning to a dark blue-black color, small stars glittering here and there. Piximon's home was indeed a wondrous and peculiar place.

"I guess we should find some place to camp for the night," suggested Taichi as he scratched his head. He looked at Daisuke. "You think Snahhanmon will let us stay with him?" he inquired jokingly.

Daisuke snickered but Sora, on the other hand, was horrified.

"We go back to him and I can assure you, his ranting is all he needs to kill all of us," she warned.

They all laughed merrily. A wave of relief washed over them and Daisuke was able to relax now. They had survived the first test thus far but how long would they have before another challenge crossed their paths? If it was going to be anything like Snahhanmon, he was certain they would be in trouble. Piximon always tended to push the limits with his training.

And for a small second, Daisuke found himself wondering on the fate of Takeru. Considering the blond was most likely with Piximon, he would probably have to endure even harsher treatment from the red digimon. Daisuke snickered. Even he had to feel some amount of sympathy for Takeru. Being alone with Piximon was a dangerous thing but then again, perhaps that would enable the blond to finally make up for lost times. All of the other Destined knew their talents and abilities but Takeru was always a mystery. Daisuke figured that there had to be more than just his teleportation. Hope was quite possibly the most powerful attribute out of all of theirs—Takeru had to have something more.

"Hey, Dais, you coming or what?"

Blinking, Daisuke turned and saw Hikari watching him strangely. The others were already walking on ahead. He shook his head and smiled brightly. "Yeah. Let's go," he replied as he hooked his arm with Hikari's. The brown-haired girl laughed lightly but allowed this gesture.

A while ago, Daisuke would have killed to be this near Hikari. Now all he felt was companionship. His feelings for her had diminished ever since he had been left in the Digital World. In fact, his entire heart seemed to have iced over. Even when Wallace had appeared, Daisuke had lost a part of himself. He became cynical and overly pessimistic. It made him think that now he was with his friends again, he would be able to regain that lost part of his soul. But then there was that constant whisper in his mind that told him as long as Takeru was there, he would never be happy. And he believed it.

* * *

TBC

Eh, sorry for such a long delay. But I have to wonder, is anyone still reading:P I think I have about two readers/reviewers for this fic. The numbers are a bit depressing, but how can I complain when they're loyal? This story doesn't seem to be ending any time soon either. I have too much in mind for it. A long epic this will be. And the yaoi has yet to make its appearance. I don't think I've ever put off romance as long as I have in this story. But it's coming soon... In Chapter XVI it shall makes its debut. Just wait and see. (Yes, I already have everything planned out.) XD Thanks, and continue reviewing. Ya'll know who you are. :D


	16. Transporter

**Chapter XV**

"That's enough for now, Takeru," remarked Wizardmon. He watched as the blond collapsed onto the ground, sweat dripping from the side of his face as he flung the sword away from him.

Wizardmon smiled ruefully and paced the garden wonderingly. It had been two days already since Takeru began his training and the young man was showing substantial talent in the art of swordsmanship. Wizardmon was astonished by this revelation and in his excitement, he had to admit, he was being harder on Takeru than normal. Piximon, on the other hand, urged him to push Takeru. The blond would need all the training he could get before the others arrived. Pathogen would not wait.

"Lunch time it is!" exclaimed Piximon suddenly from out of nowhere.

Takeru and Wizardmon looked up to see the flapping wings of the small digimon as he neared them, a floating tray of food behind him. He settled onto the grass comfortably and the tray landed beside him neatly. He picked up an apple and threw it to Takeru, who caught it automatically with his left hand. He cringed slightly as the motion caused a brief streak of pain in his arm. Piximon nodded happily.

"No pain, no game! It's a good thing you put that binding spell on Takeru's arm, Wizardmon!" he commented cheerfully as he bit into a watermelon. He spat out a seed and then looked at Takeru again. "How are you coming along?"

Takeru stared at Piximon. "Fine, I suppose," he answered quietly before bringing the apple to his lips slowly. "The pain hasn't exactly gotten any better but I guess you could say I'm starting to get used to it."

Piximon laughed jollily. "Ha, ha! Hurray for Takeru! You'll conquer the poison yet!" he cheered enthusiastically before spitting another seed. It landed beside the first seed Piximon had spat out and suddenly, flourished into a new plant with green leaves sprouting. Piximon smiled. "Self-growing garden, not a single work for me to do but drop the seeds!"

Wizardmon chuckled at this while Takeru stared incredulously at the plant.

"So what did you plan for the others, Wizardmon?"

"Well, I heard from Aero this morning they were heading towards the Glittering Lake," answered Wizardmon casually while Piximon laughed.

"Oh, they have some work ahead of them yet! This should be an excellent chance for Jyou to get in touch with his powers—Yamato, too, now that I think about it. Water and ice, you can't get a better combination than that and those two were a fierce pair," he remarked, closing his eyes thoughtfully.

Takeru looked at them in interest. "What awaits them at the lake?" he asked.

"Your normal, crazed digimon. We did manage to get Metal Seadramon and Piemon to provide some amusement, though. With those two I'm sure the Destined will get more than what they bargained for. And if they thought Snahhanmon was bad, well, these two are utterly insane," answered Wizardmon, with a glimmer in his eyes.

Takeru blinked. Wizardmon had mentioned Snahhanmon the day before and how he had kidnapped Sora. Originally he had been alarmed but when Piximon informed him that it was all a part of their plan, he relaxed. It was one of the few moments he was glad to be with Piximon and Wizardmon instead of the others. However, the training he was receiving here was more than exhausting. He could not even recall all the times they had to stop in order to rebind his arm whenever it began bleeding. Takeru cringed at the memory. It was an excruciating pain but slowly, somehow, he was beginning to ignore it. Once he drowned himself into fighting against Wizardmon's tricks and charms, he found that the pain was no longer apparent. That was the reason why he threw himself into the training. It helped numb the pain no matter the aftereffects.

"When do you think they'll arrive?" inquired Takeru softly. The pain in his arm was slowly coming back and he grew bitter at Wizardmon's spell that immobilized his other arm.

"Well…at the rate they're going now…maybe in another few days," answered Piximon, counting with his staff. "But with some of the tasks we planned out for them, I doubt that will be the case. Maybe by next week."

Takeru thought to himself and took another bite from the apple before spitting it out, coughing. "What? Piximon—!" he stuttered before the red digimon broke into fits of laughter.

"I'm sorry, Takeru, I couldn't resist! You seemed so _tense_ and I wanted to break your concentration!" he exclaimed joyfully.

Takeru wiped his mouth with his sleeve but couldn't resist a small smile at Piximon's antics. He stared at the seemingly innocent apple. "Is it all right to eat now?" he asked warily.

Piximon nodded, smiling.

Takeru frowned and stood up, tossing the apple back to Piximon. "I'm not really hungry all of the sudden," he remarked coolly as he began walking away.

Though he had been there for a short while, he had already discovered every path and exit to Piximon's garden. Perhaps he would go to the Blue Room—a room in Piximon's house that was literally what its name said: blue. In there Takeru found complete and total isolation from the rest of the world and not to mention, it was great place to learn about oneself. He would spend hours in there after training, reliving parts of his memories that would replay themselves in the room, displayed across the walls and ceilings so that it was like Takeru was indeed living his memory. Piximon had said it was an excellent way of facing off against one's fears and insecurities.

But all it did to Takeru was remind him of the horrors of the psychiatric ward—yet one way or another, he always found himself back there. He was a slave to his memories. However, occasionally, a cheerful memory would come up—like when he and Yamato were still children, before the Digital World came and swept them away. More often than not, though, Takeru would face off against those doctors that treated him and the patients that elicited such feelings of pathos and grief from him. He hated the ward with all his might and he hated what it did to him.

"Oi, Takeru! What's up?"

Jostled out of his reverie, Takeru looked up to see a small orange-colored digimon making his way to him. The blond smiled sincerely. "Nothing much, Patamon. Just on my way to the Blue Room," he replied as the digimon landed on top of his head.

Patamon nestled into Takeru's hair comfortably. "Why? That room is scary. Come with me and Aero! We're going to the Oceanic Valley," he suggested, looking down at Takeru pleadingly. "Please? You promised you'd hang out with me!"

Takeru smiled slightly. "Well, I guess I have to then," he said simply as he began walking again. "Where is the Oceanic Valley anyway?"

Patamon instantly began flying ahead. "Come on! Follow me!" he cried out excitedly.

Takeru blinked and began to run to catch up with Patamon. He never knew the digimon to fly so quickly. As the scenery around him began to change, Takeru noted with some interest that he was now outside of Piximon's garden. The landscape was still a lush green, though a shade darker than what Piximon's garden would normally be. The sky also seemed more natural—a pale blue with small, fluffy white clouds drifting lazily in the wind. Wild flowers of all variety bloomed and tall trees decorated the area. Takeru stopped for a moment to gaze at the scenery before Patamon called him.

"Takeru! Over here!"

The blond looked ahead and saw Patamon flying over on top of a hill. He breathed in deeply and began running again. He pushed his way up the hill before he stopped at the top, taking in the sight before him.

"This is it?" he asked.

Patamon fluttered beside him and rested on top of his head. "Yup," he answered.

Somehow Takeru had imagined a bright valley filled with waterfalls and more greenery. But what greeted him was a lone and barren wasteland. There was water, yes, but it stretched below him in a grey and dark mass. The weather was also drastically different. It was cold and an icy chill ran up his spine. Takeru narrowed his eyes.

"What happened?" he questioned softly as he began walking down the hill, closer to the half-frozen water. There was a long and narrow bridge that stretched for miles on the bottom but other than that, there was nothing else.

Patamon looked at Takeru sadly. "Pathogen attacked here a while ago. It used to be bright and lots of digimon used to live here but now they're gone. Pathogen corrupted the data here. Nothing can exist," he said.

Takeru looked behind wonderingly and saw that there was no sign of Piximon's territory behind him. Instead, it was yet another empty landscape. He looked at Patamon confusedly. "Are we outside of Piximon's lands?" he inquired.

"Yup. Piximon's border stops right here. Not even Pathogen could find it. Gennai helped put up firewalls and secret codes to hide its presence," replied Patamon.

"Then how do we get back?"

"You simply walk back. Piximon has willed permission for you to access his domain," answered a new voice.

Takeru and Patamon looked up and saw Aero flying to them. He landed beside Takeru, who smiled at him.

"So why are we here?" he asked.

"Well, usually it's Daisuke's job to look for stray digimon in the places Pathogen has destroyed. The last area he was searching in was here so we decided to continue his search since he's with the other Destined right now. There could be some digimon who need our help!" exclaimed another voice.

Takeru turned around and saw Gomamon. He blinked in surprise. "So you're here too, Gomamon?" he questioned before looking at Aero and Patamon. "Exactly who else is joining us on this little quest?

"Don't worry, it's just us!" exclaimed Gomamon brightly. "Now are you ready or what? I saw some Thynnosmon over on the other end."

Patamon whimpered slightly. "We have to go across the bridge?" he whined.

Suddenly Aero glided upwards and forced Takeru onto his back, along with Patamon, who was clinging onto the blond's head.

Patamon laughed. "Hurray for you, Aero!" he cried out happily as they began flying. Gomamon followed in the icy water much to the amazement of Takeru.

The cold air rushed past them in a blur and Takeru felt tears at the corners of his eyes. He held on tightly to Aero's mane and leaned forward slightly to take in more of the scenery. It was similar to the Dark Plains but according to Piximon, that region had already been in that state even before Pathogen. Takeru frowned at the thought of Pathogen. He remembered vividly their last battle against him. It was not one of the memories that haunted him, but merely a memory that served as a constant reminder of why he was so estranged from the others today.

Pathogen resembled a human. In fact, he looked so much like a human that in the beginning, they were unsure of whether or not he was. How he came to be was a mystery at first but it was slowly unraveled before them. Pathogen was digimon and human. He was created in the real world by a group of scientists and engineers—people who were playing around with the theory of the Digital World because they didn't know any better. They had managed to acquire some digimon DNA when they ventured into the Digital World and thus, created an entirely new species in their laboratory. Half human, half digimon, he was codenamed Pathogen because the digimon they acquired the DNA from was viral. His human name, however, was Oikawa Yukio. But few knew this fact.

He was raised, more or less, as a normal child with strange abilities considering his digimon counterpart. The scientists that brought him to life created him as proof of another world existing with other living creatures. But once Yukio found out this little fact, he went haywire and suddenly began questioning his own existence and purpose. He lashed out against the scientists and escaped to the Digital World where he soon began to wreak havoc in the name of vengeance. Somehow he created the theory that he was meant to rule the Digital World and all its inhabitants and thus, began a tyranny. He changed his appearance to be more like a digimon and all chaos ensued.

In a strange way, Takeru felt himself relating to Yukio, or Pathogen, as the others preferred since there seemed to be no traces of humanity left in him. Of course, Takeru didn't feel the compelling need to conquer everything, but he did feel lost. The questioning of existence was not something new to him. Takeru closed his eyes. _Don't get lost in this again, Takeru,_ his mind warned him. This was yet another issue he would often face in the Blue Room and something he never did quite overcome.

Takeru cursed bitterly to himself. After four years of being in a ward, it seemed they had driven him to insanity rather than sanity.

"Thynnosmon!"

"Wow, that's a lot of fish," remarked Patamon.

They landed on the edge of the bridge and Takeru got off from Aero's back. There were numerous fish digimon in the water, flapping about wildly, unable to contain their excitement.

"Yay! A savior at last!"

"Wait, you don't look like Daisuke!"

"Where's Daisuke?"

The Thynnosmon were a hyper group and Takeru found himself incapable of answering all their questions at once. However, when he explained to them what had happened to Daisuke, they immediately began protesting.

"No! Daisuke promised to come back for us!"

"We don't like blonds!"

Takeru found himself overwhelmed by the sudden hostility before Patamon hushed them all up.

"You all be quiet! You should be grateful for Takeru! He's one of the Destined, too! Daisuke's away on his training so therefore, Takeru's here to cover! You all understand?" the orange digimon barked.

The Thynnosmon were silenced and Takeru stared at Patamon in newfound respect.

"We still want Daisuke!"

"This Takeru is too scary!"

"He's not DAISUKE!"

Then the uproar began soon after. Takeru sighed while Patamon flew dejectedly to him.

"I tried," he said.

Takeru smiled. "I know. Thanks," he replied before turning to Gomamon, who was trying to calm the protesting Thynnosmon. "What do you want us to do?"

Gomamon looked up. "We have to get them out of here. There's little food here and Piximon said they were welcomed to stay at his garden. They can't make the trip themselves because the water's simply too cold for them," he replied.

"So we have to transport them," murmured Takeru.

There were numerous Thynnosmon, however, and they were spread on about over a wide area. Takeru found himself wondering how they would be able to transport them across the bridge and back to Piximon's garden.

"If Daisuke were here, he would have no trouble!"

"We want Daisuke! We want Daisuke!"

"Bring us Daisuke!"

The chanting was beginning to frustrate Takeru considerably before he finally glared at all of the Thynnosmon.

"Gather up and join your fins together," he ordered coldly.

The Thynnosmon looked frightened and did as Takeru told them to without a single thought. Patamon grinned at this.

"Gomamon, hold onto the first Thynnosmon and Aero, you hold onto him," continued Takeru.

Finally Takeru held onto Aero's mane and took a deep breath. Patamon looked down at him inquisitively.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

Takeru closed his eyes and clung tightly to Aero. "Pray," he murmured before a steady gust of wind formed around all of them.

The Thynnosmon were panicking but maintained a hold on each other as the winds picked up, forming a giant sphere with sparks of lightning flashing here and there. Gomamon looked at Takeru worriedly.

"You've done this before, right?" he asked.

"A couple of times," replied Takeru tightly as he focused on Piximon's garden. An image of the sea that was located on the far edge of his garden floated to surface and Takeru concentrated on that. "Here goes nothing."

And with one mighty gust, they all vanished into the air, leaving a faint trail of light and dust.

* * *

TBC

Now, we have a little history on Pathogen. But here's the real news that I've been waiting to announce: Yamajyou/Jyouto realm coming up ahead in the next chapter! Yes, we finally have yaoi! XD The Takedai will not show up yet, but I promise, after Daisuke and Takeru have their little confrontation and whatnot, it will appear very shortly.

And another note, thanks to all those who reviewed. I think that's the most this story's every gotten for one chapter. :P So stay tuned for the yaoi, will ya? Hehe, I promise it'll be worth it. :D


	17. The Glittering Lake

**Incoming Jyouto/Yamajyou fluff!**

* * *

**Chapter XVI**

"Wow…how pretty."

Daisuke rolled his eyes at Mimi's comment. Sure, the lake was a sight for sore eyes, but all he could really think about was what sort of trap Piximon had waiting for them. His eyes roamed the glittering surface of the water warily. It was mid-afternoon and the sun beamed down on them unmercifully. He wiped away at some of the sweat gathering on his forehead and faced the others.

"I guess we can stay here for a bit before continuing," he suggested.

The others all nodded in agreement and immediately, Mimi and Miyako went off by the edge of the lake, squealing excitedly. Daisuke regarded them curiously before walking over to Ken, who was sitting on a boulder trying to cool himself with a large leaf he picked up from the ground.

"Trust me, pal. That ain't going to do shit against _this_ heat," remarked Daisuke amusedly.

Ken glared at him. "I know that, Dais. But you can't blame a guy for trying, right?" he replied, sighing deeply as he shielded his eyes from the stark light that shone down on them. "Why is it so damn hot here anyway?"

Shrugging, Daisuke faced the lake again. "You got me," he retorted. The same question had been lingering on his mind as well. They were near water; that usually entailed cooler weather. Daisuke swallowed a lump in his throat as he watched the swaying waters. Something about it caused uneasiness in him.

"You guys should come on down here and cool off!" exclaimed Taichi.

He and a few of the others had taken to stripping down some of their clothes to wade off into the water by the shore. Daisuke narrowed his eyes and looked at Ken.

"What say you, my friend?" he asked.

Ken resisted a smirk. "Why not?" he replied.

Suddenly, both boys leapt to their feet and began running towards their companions, splashing water at the girls hazardously. Mimi in particular screamed the loudest when Daisuke waved water over to her. The only ones who didn't join them were Jyou and Yamato, whom were still sitting by the edge.

"They look like they're having fun," commented Jyou with a small smile as he watched Taichi lift Koushirou off his feet and drop him into the water. He looked at Yamato, who only stared back at the scene calmly. "Still worried, huh?"

That had managed to snap Yamato out of his reverie. "Can you blame me?" he replied. He then crossed his arms and stood up, looking into the distance. "It's nice here. But…I don't know."

Yamato's voice sounded clipped. His eyes retained a faraway look as he gazed into the horizon. Jyou watched him in concern. "What is it? Yamato?" he inquired sharply.

Suddenly Yamato looked at him, an apologetic look on his face. "Ah, sorry, Jyou," he said.

The latter frowned slightly and stood up, clapping down his clothes. "If you sensed something, you shouldn't ignore it," he advised. He then studied the water for a moment, crinkling his eyebrows as he did so. "There is something off now that I think about it."

Yamato gazed at Jyou questionably. "You feel it, too? Then why can't anyone else?" he asked, gesturing to the others who were still blissfully ignorant.

"Maybe it's because of our powers. I'm water, you're ice. And we're standing by a damn lake so I'm guessing we'd be more perceptive to anything off around here than them," remarked Jyou as he crossed his arms.

The lake appeared innocent enough. It stretched for several acres and was a simple, oval shape. The waters were a beautiful blue tone that reflected the sun perfectly. In fact, it hurt to stare at it too long. Jyou bit his lip. There was definitely something wrong with the picture, though. Underneath the water, he could sense a strong presence lurking about. Water was always able to mask a greater danger. He remembered Piximon telling him before—part of his powers was not only the elemental control, but to see through illusions. It was one of the attributes to having the power over water. Another was healing, though Jyou didn't quite understand that one. As far as he could remember, he never healed any one of his friends from their injuries and he himself healed at a normal pace like all the others. So what did Piximon mean?

"What's up, Jyou?"

Blinking, the blue-haired man faced Yamato. "Um…nothing. Just thinking to myself," he replied quickly, blushing slightly at having dazed off.

Yamato stared back at him darkly. "If both of us see something then shouldn't we warn the others?" he inquired, arching an eyebrow.

Jyou looked slightly startled. "Well…yeah, I guess. I mean we haven't—" he began before being cut off by a loud splash.

Both Jyou and Yamato looked up to see a large, dragon-like digimon glowering down at them menacingly. Jyou had barely registered his shock when the digimon made a sudden snap at him. A few seconds later, the blue-haired man found himself tangled on the ground with Yamato, who was glaring down at him angrily.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he hissed bitingly.

Jyou blinked in surprise before catching a glimpse of the digimon behind Yamato. "Watch it!" he warned, rolling to the side with Yamato.

"What the hell is that thing?" muttered the blond as they quickly moved to dodge another one of its attacks. "And where are the others?"

A quick glimpse behind them and the two soon found their answer. The rest of the Destined were still wading waist-high in the water, except this time there stood a strange clown-like digimon before them, taunting them while he paralyzed all of them in place. Yamato cursed under his breath as he saw everyone looking at him and Jyou's direction in panic.

"The others are stuck as it seems," came the calm voice.

Yamato looked at Jyou incredulously. "Way to point out the obvious, Kido," he replied.

The blue-haired man shrugged and gestured to the dragon digimon before them. "I suggest we worry about _him_ before we go over there," he said.

"Nice plan," remarked Yamato as he quickly dove to the ground when the digimon fired a small blast at him.

"Oh, this is just so fun isn't it, Metal Seadramon?"

Yamato looked at the clown digimon indignantly. Fun wasn't exactly the term he would have used to describe the situation. He glanced at Jyou and saw him smile helplessly at him. _We're dead if we don't figure something out._ Yamato looked around wildly to see if there anything he could use. All that stood between him and the two crazed digimon were twigs and a few bushes that weren't even tall enough to hide behind. Then there was the lake. He immediately dismissed that thought. Metal Seadramon already took up that element. Diving in there now would be suicide.

The blond narrowed his eyes. His power was over ice. Perhaps there was some way he could freeze the lake—but that took a lot of effort and he doubted he would be able to accomplish such a feat. _Dammit_. Yamato looked at Jyou, who was staring up at Metal Seadramon with a mixed expression on his face. There was, however, little fear. This surprised Yamato slightly.

"Have any more ideas, Jyou?" he inquired, grimacing when Metal Seadramon turned his eyes on him sharply.

The blue-haired man gave a small smile. "Only suicidal ones," he answered.

"Are these the supposed _Destined_? What's wrong with them? I thought they were supposed to be _strong_!" exclaimed Metal Seadramon condescendingly as he sneered at Jyou and Yamato. "Don't tell me you're afraid of little old me?"

Yamato bit his lip, trying to hold back his tongue. He would not reply to the digimon's words—it would only get him and Jyou into further trouble. He closed his eyes and thought to himself desperately. What could he do?

Metal Seadramon began gliding through the water, inching closer to the pair as he did so. His gaze on them never wavered and he thought it highly amusing when he saw Yamato flinch. Piximon had said they were a talented bunch. That was not what he was witnessing now. And quite frankly, if these were the humans that were supposed to save the Digital World, he might as well give up the fight against Pathogen and delete himself.

"Piemon, can I have a little fun with them?"

The clown digimon glanced at him calmly before smiling slowly. "Sure. Why not?" he replied, a glint in his eyes as he did so. The rest of the Destined within his control shuddered inwardly.

Metal Seadramon grinned and suddenly whipped his tail out from the water to grab hold of the blue-haired one. The man yelled out involuntarily as he was lifted to the air.

"Let him go!" cried Yamato in despair.

"How about…no," replied Metal Seadramon as he brought the blue-haired one, _Jyou_, closer to his face. He examined the wriggling human in his grasp interestedly. They were such a fragile-looking bunch of creatures, really. But Piximon had faith in them for some strange reason. Metal Seadramon thought to himself amusedly. _Let's see how much these guys can take then._ Tightening his hold on Jyou, he quickly threw down the man into the water.

"No!" shouted Yamato as he attempted to run before Piemon paralyzed him in his place.

"Now, now, now, don't get so hasty. Let's see how long that human can hold his breath shall we?" he said, smiling knowingly. _Show us your power, Keeper of Faith._ He crossed his arms in anticipation. He hadn't this much fun in quite some time. He was glad he agreed to help Piximon in his test.

For several moments there was silence. The other Destined were stunned where they stood, watching in horror as Metal Seadramon calmly held down a struggling Jyou, who they could neither see nor hear due to the water. There wasn't any thrashing in the water but the blue-haired man was probably already in too deep. Taichi shut his eyes away from the scene and balled his fists. He glanced over at Daisuke and saw the younger boy shuddering with rage. Mimi was nearly shaken to tears and everyone else watched with a grim sort of expression.

Yamato swore inwardly to himself. _This isn't how it's supposed to happen. Piximon…don't you think this going a little too far? _He felt deep fear. It angered him to see one of his friends tormented before his very eyes—it angered him even more that it was Jyou. No matter what, the blue-haired man had always been there for all of them. And now that it was finally his turn to need help, none of them could. Tears of rage crept up at the corners of his eyes. _Dammit it all._

"Ooh…he's beginning to loosen up," remarked Metal Seadramon, feeling the man as he stopped struggling. "I think he needs air. What do you think, Piemon?"

The latter chuckled. "Are you being considerate, Metal Seadramon? I've never seen that side of you before," he replied, arching an eyebrow.

The dragon digimon let out a low growl. "Whoever said I was going to let him come up, Piemon? Honestly, you assume too much," he retorted with a snort.

"Let him go, you damn psychotic digimon!" cursed Daisuke suddenly.

The two digimon looked at him with some humor. Piemon uncrossed his arms and walked up to the dark-haired boy, lifting his chin up with a dagger to meet with his gaze. "Are you in a rush to die, my friend? Don't you want to watch one of your own go down first?" he inquired lightly.

Daisuke sneered at the digimon, not caring about the cold metal biting his neck. "Let him go," he repeated again, his voice hoarse.

Piemon grinned widely. "Ah, there's the spirit I was looking for!" he exclaimed gleefully before looking at Metal Seadramon. "These Destined aren't so much like dummies after all!"

The dragon digimon snickered as he slowly raised his tail out of the water. "Let's see how he faired shall we?" he commented.

Everyone watched in sick horror as Metal Seadramon lifted his tail entirely, revealing a very wet and unconscious figure in his hold. Daisuke held back a cry as his throat suddenly became too dry to speak. He could barely see Jyou's face due to his hair, but he could very well tell by his skin tone and stillness that he wasn't breathing.

"Look at this! Barely even in for five minutes and he's out," remarked Metal Seadramon with some disgust as he tossed Jyou carelessly back into the water. "So much for the great Keeper of Faith."

The others looked on in terror as Jyou slipped under the water. There wasn't a single word exchanged between them but each knew what the other was feeling—it was dread and absolute pain of loss. Mimi had tears running down her face but she couldn't move to wipe them away due to Piemon's spell. All the rest of the girls had tears running down their faces in fact, but none were quite so loud except Mimi, who was hiccupping uncontrollably as her shoulders shook.

In all the dangers they had faced before, they never recalled one being so treacherous. Never were they forced to watch as one of their friends succumbed to punishment. Never did the enemy know so much about them. Never were they ever so helpless.

"Aaw…and they shed tears for their lost ones. How sweet."

Piemon had soon begun his snide remarks as he gazed down at each of the remaining Destined. It was rather pathetic. He wasn't even using that strong of a spell to bind them down. They still needed a lot more training. Piximon and Wizardmon would have their work cut out for themselves. And he was still curious to hear about that Takeru boy. It would have been more interesting if Hope had been within their ranks—then Piemon could have played with him. The digimon sighed inwardly. Alas, that wasn't the case.

"Well then…whom do we play with now?" queried Metal Seadramon as he narrowed his eyes at Yamato. The blond was staring at the lake, a haunted look in his eyes. The digimon smiled. "Do you miss your friend? I assure you, you'll be joining him soon enough."

Yamato didn't even hear Metal Seadramon's words. All he was focused on now was the water and that somewhere in its depth, Jyou was still there, possibly dead by now. He felt tears fall from his eyes. _Why Jyou?_ His mind screamed at him. It was unfair—it was completely irrational. The way these digimon dealt with them was as if they didn't even care about life itself. To think they could just wipe them out slowly, one at a time, and think it was _fun_ was sickening. Yamato closed his eyes. _Jyou…you left before I could tell you anything._ His thoughts grieved him. Was this really it? Was he giving up on Jyou already? It had been at least ten minutes now and the blue-haired man made no sign of making a reemergence. He was sure even Jyou couldn't hold his breath that long.

"Death's something you'll all have to get used to," came Piemon's voice, surprisingly calm and without its annoying charm.

"You bastards!" screamed Iori, surprising everyone with his boldness. "Death isn't a game!"

Piemon smiled down at him, though the image was thrown off by the ominous look in his eyes. "You're quite right, little one. But I tell you what—that doesn't mean _we_ have to live by that statement," he replied, laughing merrily soon afterwards at his own words.

"Hey, Piemon, quit messing with them and just choose the next one to go down. I'm getting bored here," called out Metal Seadramon exasperatedly. Piemon played around far too much.

The latter rolled his eyes and snapped at Metal Seadramon. "Well, _excuse_ me for liking to inflict mental damage!" he retorted.

"That's more of Pinocchimon's forte," commented Metal Seadramon.

Piemon thought to himself for a bit. "Well, who do you think taught him everything he knows?" he shot back, grinning widely. He then faced the Destined again. "He's such a good little pupil, you know."

"Fuck off," muttered Daisuke.

"What? Oh, don't tell me you're all resigning because of that Jyou! Come on! How anticlimactic! The only reason we killed him was to get you all boiled over and mad!"

That struck a deep nerve within everyone as they suddenly looked at him with renewed vigor. Piemon smiled to himself. _Ah, that's more like it. Piximon, you're going to have fun with these kids all right._ He suddenly waved his arms and everyone staggered slightly as the spell was lifted.

"I'll let you avenge your friend if you're up to it," he purred out silkily before going over to Metal Seadramon. "They're just so cute when they're mad," he whispered to the dragon.

"You sure it was a good idea to let all of them out?"

Piemon snorted. "Come now. We're both full-grown, ultimate digimon," he replied haughtily.

"Take this, you damn fuckers!"

Barely even recognizing the cry, the two digimon leapt away gracefully from Daisuke's attack, only to be blown away by an electric attack from Koushirou. Piemon applauded them on their strategy as he held an injured arm. He waited as Metal Seadramon surfaced from the water.

"Close one, Piemon," the digimon remarked, glancing at his wound.

"Now I can say this is getting interesting," said Piemon as he smiled wickedly.

The Destined had all regrouped, standing firmly together with fire in their eyes. Pain was still evident but they were determined as well. Piemon wondered faintly how much they were willing to risk in avenging their friend.

"That blond one looks traumatized doesn't he?" murmured Metal Seadramon.

Piemon faced him in shock. "Why, how uncommonly perceptive of you, my friend!" he exclaimed. "Perhaps we should play with him for a bit then?"

Metal Seadramon nodded slowly. "Leave it to me," he said before launching a missile attack on the group. They all dispersed in different directions and the dragon digimon snaked his way to the blond determinedly before a loose air attack hit him squarely in the eye, making him stop.

"You're not getting any closer to us!" shouted Miyako, who had uncharacteristically taken charge. Anger was written clearly in her eyes and that was enough to drive her to use her dormant powers.

Metal Seadramon was impressed. He had not expected the young girl to be awakened to her powers so early on in the game. It seemed Jyou's demise had entailed a greater challenge after all. He grinned toothily at her before snapping his jaws at her and quickly swiping her away viciously.

"Don't take us so lightly!" he exclaimed joyfully before he settled his eyes on Yamato.

The blond was staring at him with dead eyes. It seemed he had taken Jyou's death the hardest. But then again, he was the Keeper of Friendship—he was naturally attuned to everyone's feelings. Metal Seadramon almost snorted sympathetically. Yamato made no movement and one glance around the landscape told Metal Seadramon that Piemon was indeed having lots of fun with the rest of the Destined.

"I'll admit you guys weren't too bad. If you were all able to use your powers, you might have even been able to defeat us—but that's a very slim chance. We are, after all, not just some brainless digimon," taunted Metal Seadramon as he closed in on Yamato. "Ready to join your friend?"

Yamato finally stirred. He looked up at Metal Seadramon with hate in his eyes. "I don't plan on dying yet," he muttered between clenched teeth as he brought a glowing hand before him. Metal Seadramon regarded him with some surprise before looking down at the ball of light in man's hand. He suddenly leapt back into the water.

"Ice! So you managed to bring out your power after all!" he exclaimed.

The light in Yamato's palm intensified until it was a brilliant icy blue shade—the temperature around him dropped several degrees and the ground he stood on began to freeze up in patches. Metal Seadramon narrowed his eyes. _Piemon, you're missing one hell of a show right now._ He waited patiently as the blond called up more of his power. A swirl of chilling air blew around him, making his skin paler than it already was and his eyes glow in stark contrast. Suddenly a direct wave was launched at Metal Seadramon. A mass of ice particles and arctic winds hit the digimon squarely in the chest and he howled in pain as he felt the cold taking over his body.

_His power is astonishing. I didn't think he would be able to control this much at once,_ thought Metal Seadramon with a rueful smile. _But it still isn't enough, not yet at least._ Before the ice crept its way throughout the rest of his body, he dove quickly into the water, its warmth engulfing him completely and quickly thawing out the ice. Even Yamato didn't have the power to freeze the lake.

_But I do._

Metal Seadramon snapped his head around in the darkness, wondering faintly where he had heard that voice before suddenly finding himself caught in a whirlpool that was rapidly ensnaring him to the center. The dragon digimon let out a shout of surprise before quickly rising out of the water, sneering at the lake as he did so.

"Water would betray me?" he roared out angrily before a sudden funnel of water rose from the lake in an attempt to capture him. He quickly dodged it, but not before a second one caught him from behind. Metal Seadramon was in rage. "Who would try to use water against me!"

"Me, of course."

Gazing down before him, Metal Seadramon witnessed a sight that would have had any other digimon cowering in fear. Near the surface of the water, a small wave was rippling out, and a young man was sitting on top of it, trying to catch his breath. Metal Seadramon hid a smile. _So he did manage to call upon water's aid after all._ Feigning a sneer, the dragon digimon glowered at Jyou dangerously.

"You'll regret doing that soon enough," he warned darkly before diving into the waters.

Jyou sighed miserably and looked for the rest of his friends. They were still battling against Piemon, who was cackling with great enjoyment as he watched them try to attack him. He narrowed his eyes. They hadn't noticed him yet. Well, that was not surprising. He was supposed to be dead. Swimming was never his strong point and being under water for fifteen minutes was an awfully long time for an inexperienced person. Jyou thought to himself. He wasn't even sure how he managed to stay alive. The water just surrounded him and instead of feeling panic, he felt sereneness like none other.

Now he felt edgy. He looked down at the water. Somehow, without him knowing why, the water was empowered completely by his will. He could feel every wave, every fish that swam deep below. And he could feel Metal Seadramon. The digimon was gliding about lazily, waiting for the right moment to attack—Jyou could feel this—the restlessness in the digimon's frame, the defensive stance he had taken up.

"I'm not letting you take me by surprise," murmured Jyou as he concentrated on the water underneath.

He imagined vibrations that moved the water, making Metal Seadramon confused. He imagined them moving faster and faster until it finally forced the digimon to seek refuge on the topside. And sure enough, after a few seconds, the dragon had emerged. Jyou closed his eyes in on him. _Go to him. Surround him. Trap him. Don't let him escape._ These short commands were issued from his brain and the waters complied without fault. Huge waves suddenly rose up from all around Metal Seadramon before completely washing down on him, trapping him within a cylinder of water. Movement wasn't even allowed for the water pushed down against him so heavily, he had to struggle to maintain breathing.

Jyou sighed deeply as he looked at the digimon before him. They were standing in the middle of the lake—a good distance away from the others. At least now he didn't have to worry about Metal Seadramon.

"You can't help them. Piemon is too strong," came the dragon's voice inside his head.

The blue-haired man looked at him piercingly. "No? Well, the least I could do is try," he replied out loud as he closed his eyes, forcing himself to sit upright. Water still ran down the side of his face from his dripping hair but that did nothing to distract him.

He was calling upon the entire lake now. _Spin into a narrow point and hit Piemon with everything you have. _The water around him began to sizzle loudly, as if some underwater volcano was about to erupt. However, there was no heat and only Jyou's mind. All the water then rushed forward, blending in specifically to gather at one point until it became as sharp as a tip. Metal Seadramon watched on in awe.

_This one turned out to be the most surprising of all._

The attack moved swiftly and as unobtrusively as possible towards an unwary Piemon. Metal Seadramon narrowed his eyes. _Watch out, you stupid clown._ His warning fell upon deaf ears, though. The water hit Piemon directly in the back, driving him straight to the ground. But the water didn't disband, much to Metal Seadramon's amazement. It stayed together and spun around wildly, drilling Piemon deeper into the ground. The rest of the Destined lingered farther back, watching on in bewilderment.

Eventually, the water let up and Piemon was found to be imprisoned in a water cone much like Metal Seadramon's. The latter snickered. _We underestimated this guy. I should have knocked him out from the start._ His gaze intensified on Jyou. _But what a display of power. He doesn't even need much training._ The blue-haired man sighed and the small wave he was sitting on glided over to the shore lazily until he was able to walk himself. He looked at the others, whom were staring at him in a mixture of grief and fear.

"What? Did you think I was dead?"

A sudden outburst of cries and shouts was sounded and Jyou soon found himself buried under a pile of hugs and kisses from the girls.

"Oh, Jyou! We thought you had died! Don't ever do something like that again!" wept Mimi as she clung onto the man's shoulders despite his wet clothes.

Taichi was grinning from ear to ear. "She's right, man. No more scares like that from now on, okay?" he agreed.

A few more comments were showered from here and there and Jyou could only smile and laugh. In truth, he was relieved himself. If his element hadn't been water, he would have been done for. Suddenly, the group dispersed and Jyou was left facing Yamato, who was staring at him so intently, that the former found himself blushing lightly.

"Um…," he began before suddenly finding himself silenced by Yamato's lips on his own.

Jyou faintly heard a round of snickers but didn't pay any attention to them. And when Yamato pulled away, all he could see was the man's eyes gazing deeply into his own.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," came the blond's hoarse voice, still managing to sound threatening even when he had tears in his eyes.

Jyou smiled. "Hey, if it managed to get that kind of reaction from you, maybe I _will_ do it again," he replied jokingly before Yamato made a swipe at him that he quickly avoided. "Just kidding, just kidding!"

"It's nice to see you two kiddies finally opened up to your feelings. It's like watching a damn soap opera with all the waiting you did," remarked Taichi, grinning widely.

Yamato looked at Jyou calmly. "Well, when you think you lost something, you tend to realize things a lot quicker," he said quietly.

"Um, sorry to be the mood breaker, but Piemon and Metal Seadramon are gone," quipped Iori out of nowhere.

Everyone looked down at him for moment before suddenly looking out at the tranquil lake. Instead of seeing two ultimate digimon entrapped in cylinders of water, there was nothing. Jyou narrowed his eyes. It was impossible for them to leave—he had made sure of that. Someone else must have come for them.

"Hey, as long as they don't come back, I'm happy," said Sora, crossing her arms. "I don't know about you guys, but I've had enough of this place."

The entire group nodded. "Likewise," they responded unanimously.

"Let's get out of this place then," remarked Taichi as he turned away and started walking in the opposite direction. The group followed cheerfully, their spirits uplifted despite the fact that their enemies had escaped. At least they got back their friend—that was more than enough.

* * *

TBC

And we have the yaoi—or at least some of it. Sheesh, I believe this was one of the longest parts I've ever written. It was great fun writing it, though. And next we have Takeru again! What has happened to him and the Thynnosmon? We shall see! Oh, and in response to a question made: Takeru _does_ in fact have powers. I mentioned his teleportation very early on in the story when he first picked up Ken and brought him back to his home. He doesn't have much control of it, though, which was why he was so hesitant in using it. But trust me, our blondie has much more than that up his sleeve. :D Well, I hope you all enjoyed this part. Stay tuned! Hopefully, the Takedai stuff will be coming up shortly. XD


	18. Reunited

**Chapter XVII**

The Thynnosmon incident had left Takeru drained for an entire week. This he could handle, though. Wizardmon and Piximon's reactions to the fish digimon appearing out of nowhere was another matter completely. After recovering from the shock Piximon had graciously allowed the Thynnosmon to remain in his garden, but had rebuked Takeru badly for overusing his powers. Because his body was exhausted by the teleportation, the blond had missed out on an entire week's worth of exercise with the sword. Wizardmon had already promised Takeru, however, that when he did return, he would have a lot of pain in store for the blond. It was enough to make Takeru tense and wander about the house aimlessly throughout the entire week despite strict orders for him to rest and recuperate.

There was one consolation, however. The others would be arriving soon. Piximon had estimated roughly another few days before they all gathered at his house. Takeru rejoiced in the chance to be with his friends again before remembering what they had all gone through. Hearing the adventures and dangers they encountered made him feel somewhat bitter and shunned—not that he hadn't been already. Takeru knew the rest of the Destined would return with ties even stronger than before and with their memories restored—which meant suspicion and wariness for him. Save Yamato, they were all probably wondering where he had been the past four years when he was supposed to reunite them immediately after the Pathogen incident.

Takeru had barely even begun to face his inner demons. He didn't think he could handle facing his friends as well.

"Takeru!"

The blond glanced up and saw Patamon flying to him before he rested atop his head comfortably. "Are you disobeying Piximon's orders again?" the orange-colored digimon prompted.

A brief smile flitted across Takeru's face. "I'm just a little edgy," he admitted. Ever since the Thynnosmon incident, he had been feeling extremely off balance. He was talking more than he ever had and his nerves were completely strung. His body was exhausted and yet it couldn't stay still.

"You know you should rest before resuming your training with Wizardmon—he'll be even more ruthless than before," advised Patamon.

Takeru shot the digimon a weary look. "You think I don't know that?" he remarked dryly.

He walked down the wide hall until he reached the entrance to the house. He then ventured outside and gazed out at the sunny sky. A balmy breeze swept past them, making Patamon clutch tightly onto Takeru's head to keep from being blown off. The blond remained still, however, as his gaze settled on the horizon, where he knew the others would be coming from in a few days. He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. It would be different to be around them again. He would be the outsider. Takeru opened his eyes and tilted his head back slightly.

"Are you going to ask me what took me so long to find the others?"

Patamon gazed down at him for a moment before grinning brightly. "It's all right, Takeru. I know you'll tell me when you're ready," he replied cheerfully.

Surprise crossed Takeru's face before melting away into a grateful smile. Patamon had the utmost faith and trust in him—most digimon were naïve in that sense. His friends, however, wouldn't be so yielding. Takeru had already experienced the questioning gazes from Ken and Hikari when he met with them. They were curious, but too afraid to ask. Yamato knew of course, but even he didn't know what type of things Takeru encountered at the ward. He and his parents had visited a few times, but Takeru remained silent during those visits and put up his normal façade to keep their concerns at bay. The ward had driven him to near insanity. The patients, the doctors, and all the tragic stories—it was enough to make Takeru wonder how he had managed to keep his mind intact long enough to recover his original purpose.

He had lost four years there. Takeru didn't want to lose any more time.

"I went through hell, Patamon," he murmured quietly.

The small digimon looked down at Takeru curiously. "Hell?" he repeated unsurely.

Takeru nodded slightly, narrowing his eyes as he gazed into the distance. "I went through hell and came back," he continued, his tone bland.

Patamon looked thoughtful before flying down in front of Takeru's line of vision. "Well, that just means you're stronger now!" he proclaimed brightly.

The digimon's words made Takeru smile. It was endearing, this type of innocence and idealism. It made him wish everyone was like this—then perhaps there wouldn't be so much violence and hatred. But if the world was to be in a state of perfection, humans wouldn't exist—for it was humans that caused every negative thing in the world. Takeru believed this, yet he wasn't so jaded to say that the entire human race deserved to die. They caused pain, grief, and death, but they also had the ability to do the opposite. Takeru was sure of this. He had spent years in the ward and saw what terrors lied in the face of humanity—but when he rejoined with his friends again, he witnessed the purity and warmth that still existed in the world.

"Look, Takeru! It's a shooting star!"

The blond glanced up and to his amazement, saw a shining trail of brilliant light fly across the sky before disappearing quickly. He frowned slightly as Patamon continued gawking. "A shooting star in broad daylight?" he mused aloud.

"It means trouble," quipped a new voice.

Takeru turned around and saw Aero gliding over to him. He then registered his words and grew alarmed. "What kind of trouble?" he inquired sharply.

Aero's golden eyes stared back deeply into Takeru's own azure ones. "Pathogen. That is the signal of one of the allied neighboring villages. They are being attacked," he explained slowly.

"Do Piximon and Wizardmon know?"

"They've already gone out."

Takeru's eyebrows knitted together worriedly. "Shouldn't we help them?" he suggested.

Aero shook his head. "Piximon left me with strict orders to keep you here. He doesn't want you overexerting yourself," he replied.

Suddenly another bright light scaled across the sky. Takeru narrowed his eyes. "They're still sending signals. Doesn't this mean they need more help? What if Piximon and Wizardmon aren't enough?" he prompted.

"I'm sure there's other digimon that will go and help, Takeru. You don't need to worry so much," pointed out Patamon as he rested on the blond's shoulder, concern written in his eyes. "You should be resting. I don't even know how you're managing to walk around so actively after that teleportation feat. You used to be knocked out for hours on end."

"I just can't!" exclaimed Takeru suddenly. "I'm completely on edge right now—I think it's because I used so much power, but I know I just can't simply _rest_."

Aero's eyes scrutinized Takeru's form. "Adrenaline. Piximon said it could happen with you after using your powers to such an extent beyond your normal capabilities—it's also a mental side effect as well," he said calmly.

Patamon flew around in the air nervously. "You can't go anywhere then, Takeru! Who knows what might happen if you do?" he cried out.

But the blond's mind was far away as he looked at the sky, watching as a third signal flew across him. He finally steadied himself and looked at Aero firmly. "Look, I know my mind may not be at its best right now, but I _do_ know that those digimon are in trouble. They wouldn't be sending out all those signals for no reason. We need to go and help—even if it's just a little," he ordered astutely.

"Takeru…," groaned Patamon.

"Aero, please," continued Takeru, staring at the dragon digimon pleadingly. He didn't want to see more suffering—he had enough of sitting around and watching as others did the work.

The silvery digimon looked hard at Takeru as a fourth light spewed across the sky. He finally gave into Takeru's request and allowed the young man mount on top of him. He looked back at the blond to make sure he was safely on before rising to the air swiftly with a powerful push. They flew at a considerable pace, passing by areas of land and venturing out of Piximon's territory. When they left, what greeted them was a looming mountain in the horizon and ashen sky. Takeru scrutinized the scene before him critically before spotting a village below them in flames, spouting out dark clouds of smoke.

"Aero!" he gasped out.

The digimon didn't need to say anything. He lowered to the ground immediately and as soon as his talons touched the earthy surface, Takeru leapt off him and ran to the village, where swarms of Pyocomon ran about frantically.

"Where's Piximon and Wizardmon?" he asked urgently.

"They haven't arrived yet!" yelled out one Pyocomon before quickly dodging behind a boulder. "You should hide, too! They're coming!"

"Who…?"

But as Takeru said this, a dark and overwhelming shadow fell over him. A hot breath was released past him, and the blond shuddered at the sudden danger he sensed from the presence. When Takeru glanced up, he saw a tall and towering digimon, his long black arms stretching over to make a grab for him. Instincts swept into motion and Takeru quickly moved away, staring at the digimon in horror.

"Devimon," he whispered, fear and shock in his voice.

The digimon smiled sinisterly. "Well, if it isn't young Takeru," he spoke smoothly, "I didn't think you would ever come back."

Dark and foreboding images flew across Takeru's mind—back to the time when he had been captured by Devimon. This was a time before the Destined formed. Takeru had only been seven and the Digital World was already starting to collapse at that point. Devimon had appeared one day before Takeru in his dreams and taken his mind away to the Digital World. In the real world Takeru had slipped into a two-day coma. Yamato and his parents had been terrified.

Those two days where he was in a coma were gruesome. Takeru never knew why he had been taken—and he had never told anyone that he had. It was a frightening time for him. But all Devimon had done was kept him in a black room, while whisperings of evil and darkness echoed around him. Takeru didn't know how he escaped. All he knew was that one second he had been staring into the cold eyes of Devimon and the next, a white ceiling in the hospital with Yamato lying by his side.

Now, though, as he stood face to face with the dark digimon, all Takeru could do was stare at him with mortification. "You work for Pathogen," he whispered idly.

Devimon tilted his head to the side, smirking. "So, it took you this long to realize that?" he inquired silkily before tracing Takeru's cheek with a long, bony finger. "Well, well, it seems you have matured quite a bit. But I wonder if that did you any good."

Takeru finally reacted and jerked away from Devimon's touch. He glanced around wildly and saw the village's Pyocomon still running about frantically, trying to escape from other henchmen sent by Pathogen. Aero and Patamon had disappeared from his side—most likely to aid them. That meant Takeru was alone.

"This should be fun. My master was disappointed when you escaped into the real world. He knew you would be back, though. But after all this time I think even he began to think you weren't coming back. Now I can inform him that you have, indeed, returned. His revenge will be upon you shortly," commented Devimon casually.

"Why did you take me to the Digital World so long ago?"

Devimon's eyes flashed dangerously. "Oh? So you remember that incident?" he remarked aloud wonderingly. "Hmm…why don't you ask Piximon? I'm sure he'll be _thrilled_ to tell you."

Takeru frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked warily.

The dark digimon laughed coldly. "You'll find out soon enough, young Takeru. Soon. But now…I'm afraid I must take my leave. You see my master will have wanted to know about your arrival immediately. Let me leave you with a souvenir, though," he said, smiling charmingly as he flew upwards.

Takeru watched in horror as the village burst into wild fire, leaving no chance for escape.

Devimon smiled once more before calling back Pathogen's remaining henchmen and flying off into the distance.

The Pyocomon all cried out despairingly.

"Takeru! What do we do?" cried out a familiar voice. The blond turned around to see Patamon flying his way. "Aero's taken back as many as he could but there still are so many remaining!"

Takeru narrowed his eyes and Patamon seemed to catch on immediately. "No! You're not going to teleport us! It's too much for you—you haven't even recovered properly from the last time," he protested vehemently.

"Do you see Piximon and Wizardmon anywhere? If we wait any longer these digimon will die—and so will we," reasoned Takeru in an oddly calm manner.

Patamon shook his head fervently. "You _can't_! You could severely hurt yourself in the process, Takeru," he warned helplessly.

"It's good practice anyway, Patamon. I'm going to need to learn to control it eventually," continued Takeru as he eyed the swarming Pyocomon. "They won't stay still," he murmured.

"Exactly! Do you seriously think you can calm them down now?"

The blond closed his eyes. "Well, it doesn't hurt to try," he muttered to himself.

Takeru never attempted to try to teleport anything without maintaining contact with it—but he assumed that it would probably be much more difficult. In this case, though, he had little choice. The digimon were too panicked to listen to him and he needed to get them out safely before they were all deleted. Piximon would scold him severely later on. Wizardmon would probably beat him to near death when they went back to practice. But it was a risk he had to take. Takeru was through standing around waiting for other people to rescue him. He _needed_ to do this.

It was difficult to block out everything and everyone. It was chaos around him and his body was still worn from the Thynnosmon incident. Takeru closed his eyes and breathed in deeply to try and calm his mind and spirit. Wizardmon had made him practice this many times. He said that he would never get anything done if he was high-strung and tense. So Takeru focused on the Pyocomon around him. If anything else, he was always good at imagining. He could see their horrorstruck expressions and pictured bringing them to Piximon's fortress—a safe haven for any digimon against Pathogen.

Without noticing, a rising swirl of wind and crackling lightning surrounded the entire burning village. The digimon stilled in shock, staring at each other in confusion. Patamon continued flying over Takeru, an anxious look on his face.

"Takeru…," he murmured worriedly as the wind arose around them to form a sphere. It enveloped them entirely and Patamon felt a strange sensation of being sucked somewhere else without him wanting to.

The scenery around them disappeared and not a moment later changed to a completely different one—one that depicted Piximon's garden perfectly. All the Pyocomon were there, standing in the exact same places they were in before they had been transported—only their burning village was not with them. They gazed at each other in shock before breaking out into cheers of rejoice. Patamon's wings beat on cheerfully.

"Um…where did they come from?"

"Where's Piximon?"

Patamon turned around and immediately started grinning happily. All of them—the Destined—stood in a circle, staring at the digimon in surprise. He flew towards them. "When did you get here? Piximon predicted you wouldn't be here until a few more days!" he exclaimed joyfully.

Taichi glanced at him mildly. "Well, we _were_ in the middle of nowhere—lost and probably getting more lost until we suddenly found ourselves here," he replied, confusion in his tone as he looked around them. "_Where_ are we?"

"Piximon's garden!" answered Patamon cheerfully.

"Where's Piximon?" inquired Daisuke confusedly.

The orange-colored digimon frowned. "I don't know… We were in the middle of saving a village because—Takeru!" he murmured before suddenly turning around and flying back to where the Pyocomon were still gathered, hopping up and down excitedly.

Takeru stood still, looking out at the distance when Patamon reached him. When the digimon fluttered by his head, though, he finally turned around and stared at him calmly. "We made it," he pointed out, deadpanned.

"Are you okay?" inquired Patamon worriedly.

But Takeru was looking past Patamon and at the others, whom were staring at him with something akin to bewilderment. "They're here. That was faster than what Piximon said," he murmured to himself as walked towards them. "When did you get here?"

Yamato rushed forward. "Takeru! Are you all right?" he greeted in concern as he examined his brother's face.

Takeru blinked. "I feel strangely calm. Where's Piximon?" he replied airily.

Yamato frowned noticeably. "We just got here. I think Piximon may have actually been the one to bring us here. What's going anyway? These digimon and you just suddenly appeared out of nowhere," he commented.

"That's because I brought them here. They were under attack from Pathogen. Piximon and Wizardmon were supposed to help them out but for some reason they didn't arrive—so Aero, Patamon, and me decided to go. And now we're here. But Piximon and Wizardmon still aren't."

Takeru felt oddly misplaced, as if he had left a piece of his mind somewhere else after teleporting. His body felt numb and he was talking automatically, with no emotion. He couldn't think properly as he gazed back at Yamato's face. He registered the worry and surprise in his brother's expression but didn't do anything to try and reassure him—he couldn't.

"_You_ brought them here? But—"

"You stupid, foolish, human!"

Suddenly Wizardmon fell upon the scene and bopped Takeru hard on the head with his staff. The blond stumbled slightly from the pressure and rubbed his sore head painfully.

"I can't _believe_ you disobeyed Piximon's orders! That was beyond suicide—what you nearly did!" shouted Wizardmon.

"If I didn't do anything they would have died," replied Takeru as he gestured faintly towards the digimon. "And I feel fine."

Wizardmon laughed haughtily. "_Fine_? Look at yourself! Your face is pale, your body is drained, and you're half visible! You're on your way to becoming a ghost at this rate, Takeru!" he chastised scornfully.

Takeru raised his hand and scrutinized it curiously. It was true. He was semitransparent. He looked at Wizardmon. "Where were you and Piximon?" he inquired. He then waved at the others. "They arrived earlier than expected. Did you do this?"

Wizardmon sighed and some of his steam left him as he answered. "Yes, we arranged for the rest of the Destined to arrive here. When we got wind of Pathogen attacking the village, we had them brought here sooner because the village was close to where they were and we didn't want them facing off against Pathogen yet. Piximon and I then went off to the village, but we met up with some unexpected trouble," he explained wearily before looking at Takeru. "I suppose it was a good thing _you_ went instead—but the consequences… You're going back to rehabilitation."

Takeru tilted his head to the side. "Oh?" he remarked, as if this little fact fascinated him.

Wizardmon shook his head. "Stupid boy," he muttered to himself before facing the rest of the Destined. "Well, this is an extremely unexpected reunion but I suppose you should all rest up a bit until Piximon returns. He's still fixing up some of the damage Pathogen did."

They all nodded mutely.

"Wizardmon," quipped Takeru. The digimon turned around and immediately found himself at the tip of a sharp sword. The blond narrowed his eyes, his attention now focused squarely on him. "Where is he? Where is he and Piximon?"

"Takeru!" gasped Yamato.

"Dude, are you insane?" exclaimed Taichi.

Takeru glanced at them mildly. "What?" he replied offhandedly before tightening his grip on the sword. "I'm perfectly sane—in fact this is the most sane I've ever been since I got here."

It was fortunate Wizardmon had cast a spell that enabled him to summon the sword whenever he needed it. He still could only wield it with his left hand, though. Wizardmon had made sure of that. Takeru bit his lip. The pain in his arm seemed to be an awakening point for him, though. No longer was his brain muddled in a daze. He knew something was wrong as soon as Wizardmon appeared. He had been training far too intensely with the digimon for the past week to let an imposter slip by his watch so easily.

"Who are you?" he demanded quietly.

A loud cackle was sounded above them and Wizardmon sagged to the ground lifelessly. Takeru backed away in surprise and noticed the nearly invisible strings attached to the body. He looked above and saw a strange wooden digimon laughing.

"I guess that's the end of my fiasco!" he exclaimed brightly before hopping down to greet him. "Pinocchimon's the name!"

Takeru stared at the digimon for a second before lowering his sword. "Where are Piximon and Wizardmon?" he asked, feeling a strange air of déjà vu.

Pinocchimon laughed. "Fighting still! They ordered me to bring the rest of the Destined back here," he replied before snapping his fingers. Instantly, the puppet of Wizardmon was gone.

"Takeru, are you sure you're all right?" queried Yamato, still eyeing his brother worriedly.

The blond looked down at his body and saw that he was still translucent. He allowed for the sword to dissipate into the air before looking at Pinocchimon curiously. "Habilitation?" he repeated faintly.

The wooden digimon jumped and Takeru soon found himself attached to several strings. "We'll have you there in a second!" chirped Pinocchimon as he began directing Takeru away. He then looked at the others. "Now you all play nice and wait for Wizardmon and Piximon to return!"

Yamato watched as the wooden puppeteer guided Takeru away from the group and back into the house. Worry welled up from within him. Suddenly he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Jyou smiling comfortingly at him.

"He'll be all right," he assured.

"But you could see through him… And he didn't sound like himself," murmured Yamato.

Jyou's eyebrows knitted together.

"He was holding a sword with his left hand," quipped Iori.

Everyone looked at him suddenly. The younger boy looked surprised before clarifying his point.

"His left arm was injured, right? I just thought it was interesting that he was using it. I thought Piximon said he would never be able to again," he continued.

"Wizardmon's been training him to," remarked Patamon.

Everyone looked up and saw that the small orange digimon had returned.

"So he can still use his arm?" inquired Yamato.

Patamon nodded brightly, a tint of pride in his eyes. "Yup! He still requires a lot of training but Piximon and Wizardmon are confident that he'll make a complete recovery. The poison will still be making up a part of his digital self—but it'll remain dormant and ineffective," he replied enthusiastically.

Yamato sighed with some relief.

"Why was he transparent then?" asked Ken curiously.

Patamon's expression darkened. "Last week we rescued a bunch of Thynnosmon. Takeru used his teleportation ability to transfer all of us back to Piximon's garden. It took a lot out of him and he was supposed to stay recovering. But then when we received the signals from the Pyocomon, we had to go. Takeru transferred all of us back again and well…I guess the effort took a toll on his body. He should be okay now, though. He's heading to the Rehabilitation Room," he explained seriously.

"Blondie transferred the entire Thynnosmon colony—and an entire village? Are you sure about that?" inquired Daisuke doubtfully.

Patamon's eyes flashed angrily. "Of I course I'm sure! I was there with him!" he snapped.

"Whoa, whoa, chill. I'm just saying… He never had that kind of strength before. It used to knock him out for a week to just teleport all twelve of us," remarked Daisuke unconvincingly.

"Yes, well Wizardmon's training has improved his strength and stamina a lot!"

"Oh? Good, maybe he can actually help this time round," commented Daisuke under his breath.

Yamato threw a sharp look in his direction. "There are things about him you don't know, Daisuke," he said stonily.

It was as if a deadly coldness washed upon them. Daisuke and Yamato stood against each other, eyes blazing, while everyone watched dubiously.

"All I know is that he left—left and came back _four_ years later. I just want an explanation for his absence, but he doesn't even offer that. If _you_ can fill in the gaps, Yamato, please do so because I'm sure I'm not the only one curious about the whereabouts of dear Takeru in the past four years," Daisuke said slowly, rage evident underneath his cool tone.

Yamato shook his head, clenching his fists. "I can't," he began, looking at the ground with something akin to regret, "it's not my story to tell."

Daisuke gave a bitter laugh. "That's a big help, Yamato, really," he commented sarcastically before walking off towards Piximon's house. "I'll be around until Piximon arrives."

The group stared off as Daisuke walked towards the house, bearing downtrodden expressions. Eventually, after a few moments of silence, they followed after him until only Yamato remained, still staring at where Daisuke was previously standing. He sighed wearily and looked at the bright sky—representing emotions contradicting his own.

"If you knew, Daisuke… You weren't the only one who was forced into maturity at an all-too early age," he murmured, his words drifting into the wind, carrying a soft echo across the valleys before fading away into obscurity.

* * *

TBC

And they are reunited. :D


	19. Treasure Hunt

**Chapter XVIII**

When Piximon and Wizardmon had returned from their escapade with Pathogen's army, they were in more than an irritated mood. The rest of the Destined had been ordered to remain confined in their separate rooms until nightfall. By that time Pinocchimon had explained the entire situation to them. The rest of the day was spent relocating the Pyocomon to a new area within Piximon's domain and ensuring communications with other villages outside the area were still secure.

When night did come, Piximon finally allowed the rest of the Destined to meet in the main hall of his house for dinner. Takeru had joined later on after receiving a harsh lecture from both the red digimon and Wizardmon for disobeying their orders. The blond still appeared pale and noticeably thinner than earlier, and it was this that finally allowed the two digimon to let him go join the others.

After sitting for several minutes eating silently, Daisuke finally broke the tension.

"What's happening with Pathogen?" he inquired sharply.

Piximon closed his eyes calmly. "Hmm…I wonder," he commented vaguely.

Daisuke narrowed his eyes. "Piximon, we deserve to know. We're going to have to fight him eventually," he pointed out obstinately.

"He's recruiting more to his army and slowly infecting more of the Digital World. Our allies are falling short to his power," answered Wizardmon. He then stared hard at Daisuke and the others. "Which is precisely why you all much receive your training now before anything else happens."

"We're still relatively safe, though, right? I mean this is Piximon's domain—he can't touch it, right?" inquired Miyako with some alarm.

Piximon gazed at her steadily. "It is safe for a limited time. Pathogen will eventually find a way to crack his way into here. Even the most protected system has weaknesses. He's just taking his time locating them," he answered grimly.

"Why? If he can break into here now, why doesn't he do it?" asked Koushirou.

"Because he's still not strong enough to take on all of us," replied Wizardmon. He folded his hands over the table. "He will be soon, though."

"Tomorrow we will start your training to fully harness your abilities and signs," continued Piximon.

There was silence around the table as everyone contemplated the situation at hand. It was a grave and sickening atmosphere that most of them hadn't predicted to arrive so soon. Daisuke crossed his hands and narrowed his eyes darkly. _If we are going to fight him soon, we won't stand a chance unless we train. What happened last time isn't going to happen again._ He glanced at Takeru and saw the latter staring blankly at the wall, as if he hadn't even registered what Piximon and Wizardmon had said. Daisuke studied him carefully. Takeru had grown stronger—that much was obvious—and his left arm was still useful somehow despite Piximon's words. Whatever he and Wizardmon had made him go through in such a short amount of time must have been truly remarkable. It gave Daisuke a feeling of hope.

"I thought blondie wouldn't be able to use his left arm anymore, Piximon," he commented offhandedly, looking to the fluttering digimon at the head of the table.

Piximon gave a short chuckle. "Yes, I did. But you'd be surprised at how tenacity can pull a person through difficult circumstances," he said lightly, casting a significant look at Takeru, who ignored him. "If you all remain steadfast to your conviction I am sure that you will not lose to Pathogen. But it's a hard task—the one that lies ahead of you. You better be prepared for all sorts of pain—both physical and emotional."

At this everyone broke into smiles.

"Piximon, I don't think we know the meaning of giving up," remarked Taichi, grinning.

The red digimon smiled. "Oh? Then I doubt you shall fail to handle yourselves at tomorrow's session," he said knowingly.

"Is there any chance of Pathogen reverting back to his human self?" questioned Takeru suddenly.

Everyone looked at him in surprise. Piximon narrowed his eyes at his inquiry. "I really don't know, Takeru. At this point Pathogen is more viral than human—and he's the one who fully embraced his digimon side. I don't think he even wants to be reminded that he has a trace of humanity in him," he answered slowly.

"What a sad existence he has, to be created for the sole purpose of proving the validity of the Digital World—to be alone and isolated because he was the only one of his kind—treated specially but not wanting any of it," murmured Takeru abstractedly.

"Are you sympathizing with Pathogen?" demanded Daisuke angrily, glaring hard at the blond. Hikari placed a hand on his arm.

Takeru finally looked at him, his absent gaze at once erased. "Perhaps I am, but I know my place. You don't need to worry about where my loyalties are, Daisuke," he stated darkly.

Daisuke gave a bitter laugh. "Of course not. I have _no_ concerns about who you're loyal to. Especially considering your past," he chided sourly.

"Dais," muttered Hikari warningly. But the spiky-haired youth ignored her entirely as he continued staring at Takeru.

The blond lowered his gaze. "I won't pretend I wasn't at fault for what happened, Daisuke," he said quietly.

"Well, that's reassuring to know."

The entire table was staring at the two. Piximon and Wizardmon bore mildly interested expressions as they watched the engaging debate. Daisuke and Takeru had to clear the air between them before they could work together as a team. Trust was fundamental in future situations. If they couldn't put aside the past now then they would never be able to work together. And furthermore, it wasn't healthy for either of them to bear such heavy feelings.

"So you plan on enlightening us, blondie?" continued Daisuke bitingly.

Takeru's eyes hardened as he regarded Daisuke. "Soon enough, Daisuke, soon enough," he replied.

Daisuke gave a snort of disbelief. "This again? Why not now, huh? You know it would be better to get this over with as soon as possible—hell, maybe I'll even forgive you faster," he commented indignantly.

"I would—if not for the pain it causes me to remember."

Beside him, Yamato buried his face into the palm of his hand.

Daisuke stared at Takeru. "That's it then," he said dully. He then abruptly stood up and left the room.

Tension hung over the group once Daisuke was gone. Takeru stared blankly at the wall and ignored all looks thrown in his direction. Perhaps he had overreacted. He knew Daisuke only wanted a simple answer. But even this he could not give—not when he had barely begun to forgive himself. Daisuke deserved the truth. Takeru was simply being a coward.

"Well, then. I suppose we should get to bed now! You all have a long day ahead of you tomorrow!" announced Piximon suddenly.

Everyone jolted from their seats before standing up slowly. Yamato remained by Takeru's side.

"Takeru…are you all right?" he inquired softly.

"Do you think I overreacted, Yamato? When I tried to get you to believe me—do you think I was too expectant? Maybe I should have been calmer in my approaches. Maybe then Daisuke wouldn't have had to wait four years."

Yamato stared at Takeru and finally pulled him into an embrace. "You can't blame yourself for this, Takeru. This was something neither of you could control. If I had been in your place, I might have been even worse off considering my temper," he said reassuringly.

"I know he deserves an explanation. I know _everyone_ deserves an explanation—but I can't do it, Yamato. I can't," muttered Takeru into the older blond's shoulder. He then pulled away and looked steadily into his brother's eyes. "I'm scared to…"

"To remember," guessed Yamato knowingly.

Takeru nodded.

"You have to let it go, Takeru. Keeping it in is not going to help you."

"I know that."

Yamato watched Takeru apprehensively. "One way or another it's going to come out soon. I don't think Piximon and Wizardmon will tolerate this for much longer," he advised.

Takeru gave a small chuckle. "That I know. I could practically feel Piximon yelling at me to just spill everything out at the dinner table," he commented.

Yamato smiled and stood up, dragging Takeru with him. "Come on. There's no point in discussing this now. When you're ready, you're ready. Now let's get some rest," he suggested as they began heading down the hall. "Piximon's place is enormous. I can't find anything here."

For the first time in a long while Takeru gave a hearty laugh. It warmed Yamato's heart greatly to see his brother smile genuinely. Lately it had seemed as if nothing could brighten the young man's spirit. Yamato was thoroughly worried about him, but he knew that Takeru would be all right—eventually. There was still plenty of history and drama they would have go through before true happiness could be achieved again.

"Do you have any idea what they have in store for us?"

Takeru smiled wryly. "Hell," he replied simply.

Yamato blinked in mild surprise.

"Oh. Well, that should be fun."

* * *

It was a bright day in Piximon's garden. Naturally, however, the red digimon had full control over the weather in his domain, but the Destined were still grateful he chose a clear and sunny day to begin their training rather than a dreary and cold one. After all, Piximon was known for subjecting his comrades to certain turmoil just for the fun of it.

Yamato looked around the field and breathed in deeply. It was quite strange—the concept of the Digital World. Everything here was digitalized, not real flesh and bone. But if they died or were injured here, those same wounds would carry on to the real world. In truth, the Digital World was parallel to theirs. But it was still so uncanny—the concept of a digital world, and _them_ being its saviors. It took time to adjust. And even after all these years, Yamato would still look back and wonder.

"Today we will be working on the basics. We will go through a thorough examination of your powers and attributes before actually doing any physical work. I want to make sure you're all mentally prepped first," announced Piximon.

The group was sitting around in a circle. Piximon fluttered lightly in the air, doing an aerial version of pacing the ground as he spoke. "I have also brought in a valuable correspondent to help with this goal," he continued before gesturing to some unknown presence. "You can come out now."

Everyone watched as a figure suddenly appeared before them.

"Hello, all. It's been a while hasn't it?" greeted Gennai.

Taichi laughed. "Gennai? You look…younger!" he exclaimed incredulously.

"It's a wonderful thing—these shells. I can assume almost any shape I want," he explained with a smile. "But that's besides the point. What I'm here to do is lecture and lecture I will do."

Daisuke groaned loudly. "Please! As if we haven't heard enough of this!"

Gennai gave a patient smile. "Now to start off. Fire. It is probably the most destructive force amongst yourselves—and not to mention it's shared by _three_ of you. With fire comes leadership and great responsibility. Taichi, Sora, and Daisuke, you three are the foundation of this group. You three are the leaders of the pack. But you three also have different attributes. Taichi, you are Courage—which means, naturally, you are the one most fit to guide everyone in their time of need. Never lose that mindset. Sora, you are Love—with that comes great nurturing abilities. If Taichi is the one to lead everyone out of the darkness, you will most certainly be the one to _support_ them. That is your gift—the gift to forgive and care for unselfishly. Daisuke, you are a mixture of Courage and Friendship… You will soon understand what that truly means. To be quite honest, you successors have quite a lot to live up to. And your attributes tend to be more complex and hidden because of this mixture of original signs."

He paused and then smiled again. "But that's what makes it interesting." Everyone stared at him. Gennai took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "Aah…so much to cover. But I'll move on. Electricity. This ability belongs solely to you, Koushirou. The Crest of Knowledge also allows for you to learn things at a fast rate—but this also means that you must learn how to actually wield that information. Thus, wisdom comes into the picture. You are the brains behind the outfit, no doubt about it. Don't let curiosity get the best of you, though, Koushirou," continued Gennai.

"Water and ice. I will discuss these two together because they have always in fact been paired up—only in physical power, though. Faith and Friendship are two completely different crests. For you Jyou, Faith means responsibility. You are the dependable one—and it was also this attribute that allowed you to remember your past and how to control your powers so easily. Faith. You are specially tied to the Digital World. Not even Pathogen could have broken this bond. With water you are especially strong. The ability to see through illusions and to heal. These two gifts may not have manifested yet, but they will eventually. Give it time.

"And now Yamato. Friendship. This of course means you are naturally attuned to everyone's feelings. You are the one who understands the ties that bind people the most. If there is a second leader to be found, it will be found in you. With ice you can be quite unforgiving. Its attributes allow you to see people for what they truly are. There is no deception in handling people for you—a good skill to have. You will sorely need this in the future, I am willing to bet."

This time Gennai paused because Miyako was waving her arm in the air. He blinked several times in surprise before nodding in her direction.

"Um, we already know all of this so…why are we listening to it again?" she asked.

Gennai folded his arms. "Well, let's just say it's for debriefing purposes. Keep in mind every word. These are your powers. Even if you have heard about them a thousand times, listen. Because soon you'll come to practice what I am preaching," he replied calmly.

At this everyone was silent again. Gennai took this as his leave to continue. "Next we have life, earth, and wind. When referring to life, I mean you, Mimi. You have the special ability to control life in the form of plants. Because of this you are especially attuned to the Digital World in terms of _heart_. You treasure life in all its forms, good or evil, and because your crest is Purity, have the capability to sway those from the side of evil. Earth and wind are self-explanatory I think. Iori and Miyako, since you are also successors, I don't know exactly what attributes you will carry. Only time will tell. But for Iori, this much I can tell. Like earth, you are steadfast and loyal. And with Knowledge and Faith as your predecessors, I think we can expect much from you. Miyako, Love and Purity are your gifts. Though it may seem unlikely now, you will learn to accept your talents soon enough. They will aid you greatly.

"Now, Light. Hikari, you are its holder. With this you are attracted to and by everything good and evil. Your spirit enables you to understand the conflicts between light and darkness well. However, you yourself must be strong enough to resist the pull of darkness. Light cannot exist without darkness—and this is very much true in your case. You cannot _avoid_ darkness. But you most certainly can work alongside it. Keep it in check, but never work _with_ it. Exorcism. In your world this deals heavily with religious ideas, but in ours, it's very simple. Same concept, but no ideology to tie it down. You are the light that banishes the evil from people and digimon's hearts.

"Kindness. This crest was lost to us for a time—as were you, Ken. But now it has been uncovered and we see its powers again for this first time in a long while. Like what its name implies, you are uncharacteristically compassionate to everyone's needs. And since you have already had your own experience with darkness, you know exactly how to help those who have faltered. They will look to you for guidance. Your ability to block physical attacks comes from this attribute. The same goes for mental attacks—though this skill you will have to learn with time. Because you have gone through the darkness and back, you are tainted. But this is not a disadvantage. Your understanding of the dark side of the world is what makes you genuinely unique and stronger than most others. You have fallen once, but you will never fall again."

Finally, Gennai came to a stop. He sighed greatly and then rested his eyes on Takeru. There was a strange glimmer in his eyes as he began speaking again.

"Hope. Quite possibly the strongest attribute among all of you. Do you know why? Because it is an attribute shared by both dark and light sides of the world. _Everyone_ shares hope—and there are all forms of hope. Desperation, determination, perseverance—every attribute here has its roots found in hope. In terms of how its powers manifest through its keeper, however, I cannot say. In all my years in the Digital World, I have seen many Keepers of Hope—and every single one of them had a different power. Unlike the other crests, Hope is ever-changing. Such is the case with you, Takeru. It will be interesting to see what gifts you will be bestowed with. In all cases I have seen, however, Hope is empathic. Most likely you have this gift as well, Takeru. And I am sure it will appear at some point or another. Because Hope is shared by everyone, you are tuned in with _everyone's_ feelings. Don't let it overwhelm you, though. Control will come with practice."

Gennai came to a halt and closed his eyes. Everyone shared significant glances.

"Now…we shall discuss how you will be trained."

It was Wizardmon who had spoken. He appeared beside Gennai and was gazing at them critically. "You will be in groups in accordance to your powers. Though I know you already had your own separate groups established, we will now create new ones. Taichi, Mimi, and Koushirou will make up the first one. Since fire is shared by three of you, we are doing our best to make sure it is distributed evenly among the team. Taichi and Koushirou's powers are both quite destructive, thus Mimi will be there to represent a balance. Next is Jyou, Yamato, and Sora. Your powers are complementary, but contradictive as well, so that means no one can overwhelm the other. Water over fire, ice over water, and fire over ice.

"Third is Iori, Miyako, and Ken. This is an even balance of powers. Iori will provide the strongest physical attack, but Ken will also establish the foundation with his protective shields. Then last is Daisuke, Hikari, and Takeru. This a delicate group since Daisuke is the only one present thus far with a powerful physical attribute. Takeru has his teleportation, which I daresay he has mastered quite a bit in the past week, but you, Daisuke, will be providing much of the support for this team until its members further enhance their own abilities."

Daisuke snorted. "So I'm supposed to back these guys up myself? Gee, that sounds fair," he remarked to himself. Hikari shot him a hurt glance and he shook his head. "I don't mean it personally, Hikari. But…it's a lot of work for me."

Wizardmon nodded. "Yes, it is. But not only will it be hard physically, but mentally as well," he stated enigmatically.

The goggled boy shot him a wary look. It was clear what Wizardmon was hinting at. The debate between himself and Takeru was still at open ends—and with them now in a _team_, it would prove to be a difficult task to handle. Daisuke didn't know if he could take being with him all day long. He eyed Piximon down. Somehow he had a faint feeling that the red digimon had arranged for them to be on the same team purposely.

"Now we will do basic physical training—to build up your stamina, strength, and speed," Wizardmon finished.

Taichi stared at him in surprise. "Physical training? We're not going to use our powers?" he inquired.

Piximon laughed. "Ah, that's for later! We must first teach you combating skills. They will come in handy when you find yourself incapable of using your powers," he explained.

"_Will_ there be instances where we can't use them?" Miyako asked anxiously.

The red digimon gave a secretive grin. "Maybe."

Wizardmon clapped his hands. "Now enough with all this talk. First, all of you stretch your muscles. We'll be doing a one mile run," he ordered.

"What?" cried out Taichi and Daisuke.

"You heard me," Wizardmon said. He smiled mischievously. "And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

"Being tortured by a bunch of sadistic digimon isn't exactly my idea of training," muttered Miyako darkly. Beside her, Iori stifled a chuckle.

An hour later had them all doing sit-ups whilst Wizardmon stood watch, timing and barking out criticisms on their form. Yamato attempted vainly to try and not let the digimon's words get to him, but that plan turned to failure when Wizardmon poked him hard with his staff for slacking off. The blond was slightly put out. They had ran one mile, done fifty pushups, five minutes straight of jumping jacks, and they were _still_ being demoted by harsh words. Yamato was beginning to feel the rippling edges of anger at the corner of his mind.

"We're not…fucking…machines!" gasped out Daisuke as he finished his fifty sit-ups. He was sprawled out on the ground, chest heaving as he tried to regain the breath he had lost in the past hour. It was a miracle he didn't collapse altogether. None of them had undergone this sort of physical training since high school gym classes. And even then the teachers never pushed them this hard.

"The more you do now the better the result will be in the future. It may pain you now, yes, but within a few days your bodies will become accustomed to this sort of strenuous routine," remarked Piximon sagely.

Daisuke glared at the red digimon. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to—"

"Shut your mouth, Dais, and just relax while you have the chance," cut in Taichi.

Wizardmon surveyed the scene. "Come on, you all! Is this all you have? What happened to that youthful energy I always hear about?" he barked.

"It died after the fifty pushups!" Miyako shouted back as she collapsed onto her back. "No more! I can't take it anymore!"

Hikari, who was holding down her feet, smiled sympathetically and looked over at Iori, who appeared as calm as ever. "Are you done?" she asked in amazement.

Iori nodded. "It wasn't too bad. Not much different from what my grandfather makes me do," he replied.

Wizardmon's ears perked at this as he turned to the younger boy. "Oh? Well, in that case, we will have to make this menu harder in the near future!" he commented cheerfully.

"IORI!"

The young boy blinked several times and lowered his head apologetically.

"They enjoy this. I can see their smirks," muttered Yamato as he looked at Takeru. The latter merely smiled slightly.

"I'm sure there's much more to come after this," he remarked quietly.

"And you are right, young Takeru! Now that we have got your blood running, it's time for you all to get into your separate groups. We're going to have a little competition to build up morale and cooperation between your members! Now up, up!" exclaimed Wizardmon.

Daisuke treaded over to where Hikari and Takeru were. "I wonder what they have up their sleeves now," he murmured to himself.

"We will hold a treasure hunt! Here are your lists! You have two hours to find everything before meeting back here. The items are located all over Piximon's main garden—so you better move quick! You have a lot of space to cover. Ready? Begin!" directed Wizardmon in a rush as he hazardously tossed one scroll of paper to each group. The teams barely had a chance to take in his directions before they were being ushered aside.

Hikari glanced at the scroll in her hand and then watched as everyone else scrambled off in the distance. "Um…I guess…we should start…," she said unsurely as Daisuke took the scroll and read the first item.

"First off…a feather from a Pyocomon…"

"They should be located near the fields," remarked Takeru idly as he looked towards the west. "Their former village relied heavily on agriculture. They'll be in the more remote areas of the garden."

Hikari stared at him. "You know a lot about this place," she pointed out as a matter-of-factly.

Takeru shrugged. "I had a week's tour of this place before you came along," he replied.

Daisuke rolled up the scroll and placed it in his pocket. "Well, let's go then," he said simply.

The other two watched as he marched past them silently. Hikari sighed and put a hand to Takeru's shoulder. "He's still pretty mad about last night," she said quietly.

The blond remained impassive. "Not surprising."

The three then made their way on in silence. Occasionally, Hikari would share some words with Daisuke. But between the latter and Takeru, there were no words exchanged—not even the barest glance was spared. Hikari worried about their prospects as a team. Though they were only in these groups for training purposes, they still needed to operate well together. If Takeru and Daisuke didn't resolve their problems now it would affect everyone as a whole in the future. Hikari sighed to herself. She felt so inadequate being around them. There was nothing she could do but mediate whatever fuses would blow. Daisuke had a quick temper, but fortunately he was able to hold himself back now. Takeru was simply a mystery to her now. She had no idea what he was doing for the past four years and nor did he try to clarify it for her.

If they made it through in the end, it would be an absolute miracle. Hikari stared at the two. Eventually, one of them would break—and she had a feeling it would be Takeru. He may have changed drastically in temperament, but inside he was still as sensitive as he was as a child. He was most likely in pain due to Daisuke's hostility towards him—which was _why_ Hikari didn't understand his hesitation. If he was hurt so much by this, why didn't he just explain himself? Considering it was Takeru, she was sure he had a reasonable explanation for why he remained utterly obsolete for four years.

"_I would—if not for the pain it causes me to remember."_

Hikari narrowed her eyes. What did Takeru mean by that? She studied the blond carefully. It made her so sad—to think that they were once so close where she could almost read what he was thinking and now…now she didn't have the faintest idea of where to begin.

The scenery around them was rapidly changing from the pleasant glade Piximon had arranged for them to meet. The ground became smoother and the grasses fuller as they treaded the soft terrain. Hikari glanced at her watch. Ten minutes had now passed since their departure from the main area. She looked up and scrutinized the land before her. It didn't seem like there was any Pyocomon village nearby.

"Oi, blondie, you sure about your facts?" queried Daisuke as they walked.

Takeru eyed the area and closed his eyes for a moment. "They're here. I can tell," he said softly.

Daisuke arched an eyebrow. "What? You're psychic now? Amazing."

Hikari nudged him hard in the ribs. He frowned slightly and shook his head.

They were journeying up a hill, and as far as he could tell, there was no sign of any type of civilization. Daisuke scowled to himself. They were walking to some pointless destination and he was getting annoyed. As soon as they reached the top they took a moment to rest and he turned around to face Takeru indignantly.

"Well, what now, oh Great Seer?" he snapped sharply.

Takeru paid him no mind as he observed the scene below them. "We're here," he stated simply.

Daisuke turned around halfway and blinked back his surprise. Hikari cheered. "How did you know, Takeru?" she asked excitedly as they began traipsing down the hill.

"Just a hunch," he replied coolly.

"Great Seer. That should be your new nickname from now on," muttered Daisuke sarcastically.

Takeru looked at him serenely. "If that's what you want."

"Both of you, stop. We have a feather to get," interrupted Hikari just as Daisuke was about to reply.

The burgundy-haired boy crossed his arms and walked off ahead, cursing to himself. Hikari followed him with her gaze worriedly. "Takeru…I don't know what happened but…this can't go on for much longer. You know that, right?"

The blond was silent as they approached the village. The Pyocomon there stopped and immediately bounded towards him joyously.

"Takeru! You're here! What a great honor!"

Takeru stared at them in surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked in wonder.

The Pyocomon jumped on him excitedly. "You saved us last time! We haven't had the chance to repay you yet!" they exclaimed.

Hikari watched in a slight daze as the first signs of a true smile made its way onto Takeru's face. He held one Pyocomon out at arms' length. "Well, you could give us one of your feathers," he said.

The Pyocomon snorted derisively. "That's not enough for our savior!"

"Well, that's sort of what we need right now—and in a hurry, too. We have other things to get before the end of the day. I'm sure you can pay back your _savior_ properly another day," interjected Daisuke coldly.

The small rookie digimon stared at him for a bit before finally acquiescing. They handed over to Takeru a bright pink and blue feather, to which the latter took gratefully.

"Thank you," he said earnestly as they took their leave.

The Pyocomon hopped around energetically. "It's you we thank! Come back any time, Takeru. You are always welcome!" they called out.

Takeru spared them a wave and another smile before catching up to Hikari and Daisuke, who had hurriedly made his way out of the village. As he handed the feather for his safekeeping, Daisuke snatched it away harshly and gave Takeru a fixed grin.

"Good work," he commended tightly.

Takeru's eyes darkened. "Daisuke…"

"Don't," the latter said quickly. "I'll accept you as my teammate for now, Takeru. And while we're teammates I don't want to talk to you unless it's absolutely necessary. Trust me, it's much better this way. The longer you play dummy, the longer I'll pretend you don't exist. Is that okay with you?"

Takeru felt as if a sudden clamp ensnared his heart within its grip. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I get you," he replied numbly.

Daisuke nodded curtly and looked away.

"What's next on the list?" inquired Hikari calmly. After hearing that exchange, she knew it wasn't safe for her to try to persuade Daisuke to think otherwise. That would be required for later, though. They could not very well be on the same team and not even look at one another.

"Golden apple," replied Daisuke.

Hikari paused. "Do you know where to find that?"

"No idea."

Takeru shook his head. "Me neither."

"Well, I'm assuming it'll be found on a tree—meaning a place with water and good sunlight. We're in a pretty dry region so I think heading back east will do us some good," reasoned Daisuke.

"If it's water…," murmured Takeru before looking up quickly. "I know where it is."

Daisuke looked at him calmly. "Care to point the way?"

Takeru shook his head. "I don't know how to get there from here, but I remember seeing a painting in Piximon's house that depicted an area in his garden with a tree that had gold apples growing on it," he recalled.

Hikari pondered to herself. "But then how do we get there?" she asked aloud.

"If it's exactly like that painting…"

Both Daisuke and Hikari watched as Takeru paced back and forth before coming to a halt. He faced them. "Right. Let's go."

"What are you—" began Daisuke before suddenly freezing as he noted the sphere of blinding light encircle them. He looked at Takeru in alarm. "Are you _serious_?"

Before he knew it, however, the scenery around them was changed. The three of them were standing in the middle of a golden field. The oddly colored grass was cut and a small lake obscured their view. Daisuke took in their new surroundings in astonishment before looking at Takeru again. The latter regarded the area sullenly.

"I guess this is it," he said quietly.

"Takeru… That was… Your old teleportations didn't used to be so quick," gasped out Hikari.

The blond thought to himself for a moment. "No, they didn't. Maybe four years of remaining dormant has done my abilities some good," he commented dryly.

Hikari managed a small smile. It had frightened her a bit. The last transportation she ever experienced by the hands of Takeru was slower, much steadier, and required indirect contact with each of them to accomplish it. This time it had been much faster, much more uncontrollable, and required no contact whatsoever. Her heart was still beating from the shock. Yet Takeru appeared as calm as ever. Daisuke, too, seemed rather normal to this change. Hikari took several deep breaths. She was certainly becoming more squeamish in these later years.

"All right, so a golden apple… I guess we just have to pick one from that tree," remarked Daisuke as he pointed towards the lake.

Takeru turned around and narrowed his eyes. In the middle of the lake, on a lone plateau of small land, stood a single black tree. The leaves that sprouted from its branches were crimson and golden apples were spotted in abundance all over its foliage. Takeru looked towards the sky and noted its violet hue. The sun was a fiery orange-red that shone down on them strangely, casting a gloomy, blood red covering over everything. He had never been in this part of Piximon's garden—but somehow he felt as if he had.

"So…do we transport over there?" questioned Hikari out loud. She also felt the same eeriness that Takeru did. This place held some sort of tragedy. She wondered what could have happened.

"It's worth a try," agreed Takeru. "Ready?"

The other two nodded and in a flash their surroundings morphed. Daisuke gazed around the small island. The ground was barren. Only the tree represented any sort of life there, and even its presence did not soothe his qualms.

"So…"

"Guests detected. Present password to continue."

Daisuke froze and looked at the others. "Did I just hear that?" he asked slowly.

Hikari nodded. Takeru stared at the tree, which had begun to glow an unearthly red. It seemed to pulse out an uncanny wave of light. "I think it came from there," he said.

Again the tree glowed and that same monotonous voice sounded. "Present password to continue, guests."

Daisuke looked aghast. "You mean to tell me we need a password to get to this damn tree?" he cried out in dismay.

"Incorrect password. Access denied."

Suddenly, the three of them found themselves back where they started—staring from afar at the tree located in the middle of the lake. Daisuke rubbed his eyes. "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered.

"Well…I imagine Piximon would have wanted to make this as hard as he possibly could," quipped Hikari bracingly. "It's only been half an hour. We still have time to figure this out."

Daisuke gritted his teeth. "But how do we get there without the password?" he demanded angrily.

Hikari furrowed her eyebrows worriedly. Takeru stared hard at their surroundings. "Hey…do you guys feel that?" he voiced aloud.

"What?" snapped Daisuke.

Takeru's eyes roamed the area carefully. "I just feel like there's someone else here…watching," he murmured before his eyes came to a halt at something behind Daisuke and Hikari. "And there we are."

The two turned around and stared at their intruder in surprise. Daisuke clenched his fists. _Enough of these games, Piximon. Are you trying to drive us mad? _Another boy around their age stood before them. His eyes were bright blue and his hair a spiky brown mess. He wore a friendly smile despite his unusual attire, which consisted something of a mix between modern punk rock and medieval armor.

"You seem to be having trouble," he said brightly.

Daisuke's gaze hardened. "Maybe. Care to help?" he asked airily.

The stranger smiled. "That tree won't let anyone touch it without the password. It's one of Piximon's most prized possessions—and even you Destined don't have permission to access it," he said knowingly.

"How do you know so much about us?" Hikari asked in a slight daze. All of this was starting to twist her mind around. She didn't know what to think anymore. The boy appeared to be harmless, but there was something very _off_ about him. The fact that he looked so much like a human disconcerted her greatly. Even Gennai wasn't so convincing due to his rather eccentric behavior.

"It's my duty to know all about you. But more specifically, my _special _duty while I'm here is to watch over that tree. There usually aren't any guests or intruders that enter this territory due to my custom-made shields and firewalls. But apparently you managed to slip in so I was called over immediately. I applaud you, but you will not be going any further without the password."

Takeru watched the boy calmly. "I don't suppose you know what it is," he said lightly.

The stranger gave a smirk. "I'm its guardian. Of course I know how to access it. But I'm afraid I can't give away that privilege so freely," he replied.

"Stop with the bullshit already. Just tell us how we _can_ get the password," Daisuke cut in, his tone impassive despite the fiery look in his eyes.

"You have to earn it of course," the strange answered enigmatically.

"How?" asked Hikari.

The boy looked at her kindly. "By proper Digital World procedures of course. We fight."

Daisuke arched an eyebrow. "Fight? What type of fight are you asking for?"

"Any. The rules are simple. You may use anything. Your own powers, digimon, weapons, anything and everything. If you win I will grant you the password to access the Bleeding Tree."

Hikari blinked. "Is that what it's called? Why?" she inquired curiously.

The stranger's eyes flashed. "You should ask Piximon about that some time," he replied softly.

Daisuke cracked his knuckles. "All right, that sounds simple enough. Are we allowed to do three on one?" he asked.

"Of course."

"So what will you use?"

"Everything around me."

Daisuke scrutinized him darkly. "Who are you?" he finally asked.

A smile. "You can just call me Ryo."

"You're a browser," Takeru said suddenly.

Ryo looked at him sharply. "Well…it seems like you may know something about me as well," he replied breezily.

"A browser? What do you…?"

Before Hikari could finish, however, Ryo had taken stand and lifted both arms in front of him. He gave an impish grin. "Prepare yourselves!" he warned just as the ground began shaking.

"Jesus, he wasn't kidding when he said he would use everything around him!" cursed Daisuke and the others struggled to regain proper foothold.

Hikari stumbled onto the ground and shook her head. "It's useless to try to stand!"

"So how exactly do we defeat him? We knock him unconscious?" queried Takeru.

Daisuke snorted. "Well. That sounds good to me."

He thrust his arm out before him and fired one single shot. It flew at an incredible speed towards Ryo before he dodged it smoothly. He smiled. "Nice shot—but not good enough," he commented as the ground began trembling even more. Only the land in which he stood upon remained still.

Daisuke cursed. "Damn! I can't even get close to him with all this shaking!"

"I'll transport you," murmured Takeru.

And for the third time that day, Daisuke found his surroundings whirling around him crazily for a split second before it stopped. He was standing right behind Ryo, who appeared slightly confused at where he had gone. Daisuke blinked several times in shock before Takeru and Hikari's warning gazes threw him back into reality. He placed the palm of his hand near Ryo's back and sent out a rush of heat. The force was not enough to kill him, but just enough to weaken his body immensely so that he was collapsing right before Daisuke's feet.

The ground stopped shaking at once.

Daisuke's hand remained near Ryo's head. "I think we can figure out who's the victor here," he said with a light smile.

Ryo hid a grin behind his serious mask. "All right. You win. I'll give you the password." Hikari and Takeru walked up just then. He stared at the other two before resting his gaze on the latter. "Nice teamwork."

Takeru and Daisuke glanced once at each other before looking away quickly.

"Yeah," murmured Takeru.

"Whatever," grunted Daisuke.

This time Ryo did not hide his smile. _Piximon will be happy to hear about this. _"The password is 'hope,'" he said.

"Hope?" repeated Takeru faintly.

Ryo nodded as he stood up slowly, dusting off his clothes. "Yup. Ah, but I can't believe I lost so easily. I must be more out of practice than I thought. I knew I should have gotten a digimon to fight in my stead. But I haven't been in this world in a while and Piximon called me over so unexpectedly. I didn't have any time to prepare!" he suddenly burst out.

Hikari stared at him. "You…are a human…right?"

"Well, I'm certainly no digimon!"

"What world do you come from?" asked Takeru quietly.

Ryo paused before laughing nervously. "Oh, did I let that slip? Well, ignore it, ignore it. I'm from nowhere," he said hurriedly. But the blond's eyes didn't leave his face. Ryo smiled forcefully. _Ah…this guy is scary. Gotta be careful around him or else he'll figure me out completely! _He clapped his hands. "Well, congratulations! You have the password. I suppose you should get a move on, right?"

Hikari started. "Oh! That's right! Come on, guys, we don't anymore time to lose!"

Takeru nodded and once again the three of them found themselves standing on the little island.

"Guests detected. Present password to continue."

"Hope," all three of them said resolutely.

The tree stopped glowing.

"Is that it?"

"Looks like it."

"That was pathetic."

"Were you expecting fireworks?"

Hikari rolled her eyes as Daisuke scratched his head bemusedly. Takeru walked up to one of its branches and plucked off a golden apple. He threw it towards Daisuke, who caught it automatically.

"All right. We got what we came for. Let's go."

Hikari looked at the scroll. "Next item…a hair from a dragon."

"That's easy. All we have to do is find Aero," remarked Daisuke.

"He's probably somewhere in the flower fields. He's a sucker for those."

Takeru smiled slightly. "Here we go."

The three of them disappeared. Ryo then walked up from behind the tree's trunk and petted it affectionately. Where Takeru had pulled off a golden apple, another one had already started to grow. Ryo smiled faintly as he gazed upon it. The tree was still black, but its leaves had started to change color—going from dark crimson to a lighter, softer shade of red. Ryo gazed at the sky, which had also begun to lighten in shade.

"You're starting to recover, huh? Yeah…maybe not all is lost yet. Right…Takeru?"

* * *

TBC

Many apologies for the extreme delay. To be brief, I was hit by a number of walls. Piling schoolwork, summer laziness, writer's block, and then finally my computer completely crashing down on me. But hopefully, this _rather long_ chapter makes up for it. (It's a bit scary the length of this chapter actually. I myself was pretty shocked to see how far it extended.) XD I got my drive back for this story, though. Over three years now and still running. It's a miracle in my book.

A lot of information in this chapter. A bit tedious, but necessary for the story itself. And of course, a new character comes to light. I always did like Ryo. So I simply had to give him a role.


End file.
